Senior Software Engineer (Backend) - job 1 of 2

Who we are: First Street is the standard for Climate Risk Financial Modeling. We use transparent and peer-reviewed methodologies to calculate the past, present, and future climate risk for every property in the world. We started working with the world’s leading climate scientists to create groundbreaking, climate-adjusted, property specific models over 8 years ago and haven’t stopped. 

Our mission: We exist to connect climate and financial risk. 

Our data: We create physics-based, deterministic models of flooding, wildfire and hurricanes, and advanced statistical models of extreme heat, air quality, drought, hail, severe convective storms, winter storms, and more. All of this data is used to create property-level financial risk metrics and macroeconomic variables to quantify the impacts of climate, property by property.

Our customers: We empower governments at the highest levels to make smart regulations, businesses to avoid bad investments, and everyday Americans to understand their personal risk from climate change. We are relied on every day by:

• Agencies ranging from the U.S. Department of Treasury to Fannie Mae

• The world's biggest banks such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo 

• Institutional investors like Nuveen and Blackstone 

• Millions of everyday users on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, Homes.com, and more 

We believe:  With the right data, we can identify the problems, avoid bad investments, and implement solutions. This is why we have invested tens of millions of dollars into our science, data, people, and products and have raised tens of millions more to move even faster. Read more about our culture here and see what Climate Risk Financial Modeling is all about here. 

Come join us and use your talents to change the world.

Team & Role Overview

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our team. This person will spend roughly 90% of their time coding (mainly in Go) and 10% of their time on documentation, thought leadership, and improving developer experience at First Street. Our team uses AWS, Go, Linux, Kubernetes, Mysql, Postgresql (+Postgis), Elasticsearch, Redis, Git, Docker, JavaScript, NodeJS, React JS, GraphQL, REST, and Python. This person will be instrumental in helping First Street launch global products. The successful candidate will be someone who deeply cares about the environment, loves information technology, and appreciates the importance of data for the success of the First Street mission. They will assist in architecting and building software at scale that drives data to clients, coordinating data pipeline integration between data operations, and contributing to the overall cloud infrastructure of First Street.

Technologies we use:

AWS, Go, Linux, Kubernetes, Mysql, Postgresql (+Postgis), Elasticsearch, Redis, Git, Docker, JavaScript, NodeJS, React JS, GraphQL, REST, and Python

What you’ll do:

• Design and write backend code that powers First Street’s API, written in Go

• Develop and maintain internal software tooling

• Write technical documents

• Troubleshoot and fix bugs

• Identify bottlenecks and improve software efficiency, maintain and write tests for First Street Services

• Debug and setup cloud-based infrastructure on Amazon Web Services

• Review and provide feedback on contributions from other peers on the software engineering team

• Collaborate with Product and Data Operations Teams, as well as other groups within the First Street Team

What you’ll need:

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant experience in Engineering, Computer Science, or Information Systems

• 5+ years of proven software development

• Solid understanding of backend API development (with knowledge in GraphQL)

• Solid understanding of systems integration

• Solid understanding of databases, either in Postgres or MySQL, including: debugging, optimizations, and queries

• Experience of at least one of these languages: Go, Python, Rust

• Experience with web development to some degree including but not limited to: Front-end development (JavaScript/HTML/CSS), build tools, and developer tools

• Experience with backend JavaScript such as NodeJS or Bun

What will make you stand out:

• Experience building and maintaining automated infrastructure

• Experience in an environment that adheres to SOC II and ISO 27001 Compliance Standards

Our anticipated US base salary compensation range for this role is $100,000,000-$180,000 plus competitive benefits package, which includes equity, 401(k), paid time off, paid parental leave, and comprehensive health benefits. Actual compensation will vary depending on factors such as work location as well as additional factors such as a candidate’s qualifications, skills, experience, competencies, and relevant education. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

How we work: 

• Impact: We only focus on things that move the needle 

• Drive: We are driven by the role we play in connecting climate and financial risk 

• Ownership: This is our company and we act accordingly

• Urgency: We move quickly because the world depends on it 

• Resilience: We have a growth mindset in all that we do

What we offer: 

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience 

• Ownership interest in the company via Employee Stock Option Plan 

• Hybrid Schedule with in-office work days on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 

• 15 vacation days along with 5 days for winter break office closure, 8 statutory company holidays, and 10 sick days 

• Health benefits covered at 100% for employee or a significant contribution for family plans 

• Vision and dental benefits with partial employee contribution

• 12 weeks of paid parental leave 

• Access to One Medical, Teledoc, HealthAdvocate, Kindbody, and Talkspace

• Company 401k program 

• Commuter benefits 

• Life Insurance

• Tech startup environment 

• Weekly team meals and an office stocked with coffee and snacks 

• Working on the world’s biggest issue with other passionate professionals 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.