Senior Backend Engineer (AI-Native)

Skip To Job Description Umba Thanks for visiting our Career Page. Please review our open positions and apply to the positions that match your qualifications. Senior Backend Engineer (AI-Native) Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Full Time Experienced Share About UmbaUmba is a pan-African digital bank operating in Kenya and Nigeria, with a mission to make financial services more accessible, affordable, and empowering for millions of people across Africa.We’re transforming how banking works on the continent by building intelligent, automated financial products powered by machine learning. Our platform offers digital banking, lending, and payments through Android, iOS, and Web applications, serving both individuals and businesses at scale.Headquartered in Nairobi, Umba acquired a licensed deposit taking microfinance bank in 2023 and has since grown revenue more than sixfold.We’re looking for exceptional people who share our ambition, energy, and belief that technology can unlock financial freedom. Join us as we build Africa’s leading digital bank.About the RoleWe’re looking for an experienced Back-End / Full-Stack Engineer to design, build, and scale the core services that power Umba’s digital banking platform.You’ll work primarily in Python (Flask, FastAPI), building secure, high-performance APIs used by tens of thousands of customers across Africa — while also contributing across the stack where needed.This is not a traditional engineering role.We operate in an AI-native development environment, where engineers leverage tools like Claude Code, Codex, and other LLM-based systems to accelerate development, generate code, and iterate quickly.As a result, the role increasingly focuses on:Defining clear technical specificationsOrchestrating AI agents to implement systemsReviewing, validating, and hardening generated codeBuilding robust feedback loops and quality control systemsYou’ll collaborate closely with the Data and Product teams to shape our architecture and ship features quickly and reliably.This is a highly technical, in-office role based in Nairobi. You’ll join a small, high-performing team operating at speed, where ownership is expected and impact is immediate.ResponsibilitiesDesign, build, and maintain scalable backend services using Python (Flask, FastAPI)Contribute to front end development (NextJS)Contribute across the stack when needed (APIs, integrations)Define clear technical specs that can be executed by AI-assisted development workflowsUse AI tools (e.g. Claude Code, Codex) to accelerate development while maintaining high qualityReview, test, and validate AI-generated code to ensure correctness, security, and performanceArchitect systems with a focus on reliability, observability, and scalabilityBuild strong testing and validation pipelines (unit, integration, automated QA)Collaborate with Data teams to deliver end-to-end featuresDebug complex production issues and implement robust fixesContinuously improve engineering velocity through tooling and process improvementsSkills and Qualifications5+ years of software engineering experience in production environmentsStrong proficiency in Python and backend frameworks (Flask, FastAPI)Intermediate experience with FrontendExperience building and scaling APIs and distributed systemsComfortable working across the stack (backend + some frontend exposure preferred)Strong system design skills and understanding of software architecture principles AI-Native Engineering Experience (increasingly important):Experience using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, etc.) in daily workflowsAbility to write clear, structured technical specs and prompts for code generationStrong code review skills, especially for validating AI-generated outputsUnderstanding of tradeoffs, failure modes, and quality risks in AI-assisted developmentExperience building guardrails: testing, validation, and monitoring for generated...