Founding Product Engineer – Backend Systems

TechRivo is a software consulting , Australia and Africa.

Our projects span multiple industries including fintech, education, and digital platforms.

We work closely with our partners to design and build meaningful software products.

We are currently building a greenfield insurance platform and are looking for a Founding Product Engineer to help shape both the product and technical foundations of the system.

The Role:

This is not a typical developer role.

We are looking for an engineer who is comfortable operating between product, architecture, and engineering, and who enjoys working in environments with uncertainty while helping transform ideas into working systems.

The platform we are building is a large insurance ecosystem with an ambitious vision.

Many aspects will need to be explored and defined as development progresses, so the ability to ask the right questions, navigate uncertainty, and take ownership is essential.

This role is a good fit if you:

• Enjoy building systems from the ground up
• Are comfortable working with incomplete or evolving requirements
• Like making architectural decisions and implementing them
• Prefer ownership and impact over narrowly defined tasks

Day to Day:

You will work closely with the CTO, designer, and frontend developers to define architecture, explore the domain, and move the product forward through hands-on engineering.

Product & Problem Understanding:

• Ask questions and challenge assumptions to clarify unclear requirements
• Help translate business ideas into technical capabilities and system features
• Seek to understand the problem before jumping to solutions

Architecture & System Design:

• Design and evolve the backend architecture of the platform
• Evaluate technical solutions and propose pragmatic approaches
• Reason about distributed systems and long-running workflows

Hands-on Engineering:

• Implement core backend components to move the system forward
• Design systems capable of handling complex workflows and long-running processes
• Work comfortably with incomplete or evolving requirements

Ownership & Leadership:

• Take accountability for moving the project forward
• Identify unknowns and reduce ambiguity
• Treat the product with a founder-like mindset

Technology Stack:

While mindset and architecture ability are most important, the current stack includes:

• Java (Spring ecosystem)
• Workflow orchestration (Temporal / BPMN)
• Keycloak
• PostgreSQL
• Azure
• Kubernetes
• Helm
• Terraform
• GitHub (Actions)

Soft Skills:

• Strong communication skills
• Comfortable working closely with designers and engineers
• Able to explain technical ideas clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Fluent English communication
• Comfortable working remotely with video calls

Work Model & Compensation:

Location: Remote

Commitment: Flexible hours depending on project stage and workload

Compensation: Hourly based

What you can expect from this process:

1) Our team will carefully review your application, and if your experience and qualifications match our needs, we'll invite you for an initial call

2) Technical Assignment on TestGorilla

3) Call with CTO

4) Final call

Submit your application using this form.

Please note that applications made through other channels, will not be considered.