Senior Software Engineer

<div class="content-intro"><div> <div class="standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [&amp;_>_*]:min-w-0 gap-3 !gap-3.5"> <h3 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">What We Do</span></h3> <pre><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first and only complete financial operations platform purpose-built for insurance — combining AI-powered accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. In five years, we've become the market leader: over 4,000 businesses, including more than half of the 50 largest brokers in the country, trust Ascend to bring clarity to complex accounting operations — from collection to close.</span></pre> <h3 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">How We Do It</span></h3> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ascend automates the financial operations that insurers, MGAs, and agencies run every day — and embeds directly into the transactions where money actually moves.</span></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">AI is driving the cost of software toward zero. The companies that win won't just sell tools — they'll capture value at the point of the transaction itself. Ascend is built for exactly that moment. Our customers don't just adopt software; they unlock measurable efficiency with a proven 5–7x return on investment.</span></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Our 70+ person team, based in San Francisco and Columbus, brings together deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and AI to build infrastructure the industry has never had.</span></p> <h3 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Why We Do It</span></h3> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The insurance industry intermediates trillions of dollars — and almost none of that infrastructure was built for the modern era. Legacy systems aren't just inefficient; they're a ceiling on what the industry can become.</span></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ascend's mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030 — powering the financial operations of the entire industry and transforming the way trillions of dollars move. We're not building another point solution. We're building the financial backbone of insurance.</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="h-8">&nbsp;</div></div><h2 data-start="127" data-end="139"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Your Role</span></h2> <p data-start="141" data-end="557"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ascend is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our team on-site in San Francisco to help expand our core product. As an Engineer at Ascend, you’ll be part of a small but growing team focused on solving complex technical challenges using Ruby. You’ll also interface directly with our customers and work cross-functionally to develop new product features, dashboards, and checkout processes—without any layers.</span></p> <h3 data-start="559" data-end="592"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Responsibilities Will Include</span></h3> <p data-start="594" data-end="636"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong data-start="594" data-end="634">Objective #1: In your first 30 days:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="639" data-end="765"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Understand Ascend’s platform, product, and customer workflows by collaborating with team members and engaging with customers</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="768" data-end="836"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Contribute to user-facing projects using Ruby on Rails and Next.js</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="839" data-end="922"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Partner with product managers and designers to solve customer challenges directly</span></li> </ul> <p data-start="924" data-end="966"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong data-start="924" data-end="964">Objective #2: In your first 60 days:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="969" data-end="1072"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Take ownership of end-to-end features that process millions in insurance premiums using Ruby on Rails</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1075" data-end="1139"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Build intuitive UIs with Next.js to power financial operations</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1142" data-end="1199"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Develop internal tools to streamline customer workflows</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1202" data-end="1290"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Maintain high product quality through proactive monitoring and continuous improvements</span></li> </ul> <p data-start="1292" data-end="1345"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong data-start="1292" data-end="1343">Objective #3: In your first 90 days and beyond:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1348" data-end="1474"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Collaborate with customers to translate their needs into scalable solutions for the multi-trillion-dollar insurance industry</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1477" data-end="1603"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Develop the industry’s leading point-of-sale system for insurance, enabling seamless payments and improving conversion rates</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1606" data-end="1701"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Automate back-office tasks with AI, reducing time and improving accuracy for accounting teams</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1704" data-end="1776"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Help shape technical architecture and processes as the platform scales</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1779" data-end="1852"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Mentor engineers through thoughtful code reviews and technical guidance</span></li> </ul> <h3 data-start="1854" data-end="1867"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Must Have</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1870" data-end="1935"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">4+ years of experience as a Full Stack or Backend Engineer</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1938" data-end="1982"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">2+ years working in a growth-stage startup</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1985" data-end="2023"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Experience with relational databases</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2026" data-end="2077"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Experience building and scaling consumer products</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2080" data-end="2145"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A strong desire to learn new skills and solve business problems</span></li> </ul> <h3 data-start="2147" data-end="2163"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Nice to Have</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2166" data-end="2229"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Familiarity or interest in learning Ruby on Rails and Next.js</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2232" data-end="2324"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Familiarity with building external APIs and integrations with platforms such as Salesforce</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2327" data-end="2392"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Experience in building payment, checkout, or insurance products</span></li> </ul> <h3 data-start="2394" data-end="2420"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Tech Stack &amp; Processes</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2423" data-end="2459"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ruby on Rails API hosted on Heroku</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2462" data-end="2504"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Next.js with TypeScript hosted on Vercel</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2507" data-end="2545"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Tailwind CSS across all the frontend</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2548" data-end="2580"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Postgres and Redis for storage</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2583" data-end="2620"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Continuous integration and delivery</span></li> </ul> <h3 data-start="2622" data-end="2660"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>Base Salary Range:</strong> $200,000–$225,000</span></h3> <p data-start="2622" data-end="2660"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="display: none;">#LI-RS1</span></p><div class="content-conclusion"><h3><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>All roles at Ascend are 5 days a week onsite at our beautiful office in SoMa!&nbsp;</strong></span></h3> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>Benefits</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">100% health premiums covered for you and your dependents</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">401k with employer matching options</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A fast growing team with an emphasis on promoting from within 80% of all hires in the last 12 months have already been promoted!&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Unlimited PTO</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Company paid commuter benefits</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Parental and family leave</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Lunch everyday</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Dog-friendly office!</span></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>Equal Opportunity</strong></span></h3> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We are committed to equal opportunity employment and embrace diversity within our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We encourage candidates to apply even if their experience doesn't precisely match this opportunity. We value diversity and are dedicated to equal opportunity employment.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p></div>