Senior Software Engineer, Backend

About Homeward Homeward takes the “what ifs” out of home buying by creating financial products that give buyers and sellers certainty and convenience. We’re a fast-paced, remote-first real estate startup that partners with real estate agents to offer innovative products and services, helping clients buy with cash, sell with certainty, and time their move, regardless of the market. Founder and CEO Tim Heyl, owner of one of the fastest-growing agent teams in the country, started Homeward in 2018 to fix the antiquated and broken real estate process.

Today, we offer bundled cash offers, mortgage, and title services in 13 states, enabling buyers and sellers to move with certainty and convenience. We’re a fully remote company with a diverse team spread across several countries – Grounded in three core values:
The Golden Rule, One Team One Dream, and Calm Focus.

We’re seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to help us build a simpler, more customer‑centric home buying and selling experience in partnership with real estate agents. In addition to strong backend fundamentals, the ideal candidate will bring hands‑on experience deploying AI and automation solutions – from embedding intelligent features into production systems to designing robust, human‑in‑the‑loop workflows that leverage modern AI tools.

As a fast‑moving startup, we’re constantly balancing technical debt and good design. We value engineers who can make pragmatic tradeoffs, ship quickly, and iterate toward great solutions rather than waiting for perfection. Please note, this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

• Design, develop, debug, and modify backend components in an agile environment
• Write automated unit and integration tests to support our CI/CD pipelines
• Participate in code reviews to ensure overall code quality and flexibility
• Prototype creative solutions quickly by developing MVPs and working with peers to shape our technical strategy
• Integrate AI capabilities into new or existing applications, e.g.:
• Deploy RAG‑based solutions for internal knowledge sharing
• Use commercially available models via APIs to automate operational workflows
• Build pipelines that combine LLM‑based decisions with human review or escalation paths
• Design data and orchestration layers to support the above
• Collaborate effectively with distributed, cross‑functional teams (engineering, product, operations, etc.)
• Troubleshoot and resolve business or technical issues – following through on details and driving issues to closure
• Continuously improve our software development processes and team practices
• Participate in agile planning and user story creation

• 8 years of non‑internship, professional backend development experience
• Strong problem‑solving and troubleshooting skills
• Deep understanding of web development and backend best practices
• Strong grasp of the Software Development Lifecycle and agile methodologies
• Proficiency with Python and one or more frameworks like Django, Flask, or FastAPI
• Expertise with common backend technologies and patterns (REST APIs, async task management, data modeling, etc.)
• Hands‑on experience integrating AI and automation tools into production systems, as described in the responsibilities above
• Ability to rapidly prototype and adjust in response to customer feedback
• Working knowledge of version control and CI/CD tools

• “Startup energy” – scrappy, flexible, and motivated to ship impactful features
• A “build, test, learn” mindset with a bias toward quick, calculated action and a focus on measurable business outcomes
• Strong product sense, able to translate ambiguous goals into iterative technical milestones
• Strong organizational skills and discipline in both following and appropriately challenging conventions
• Comfort balancing speed vs. design, knowing when to ship quickly and when to refactor
• A high bar when it comes to quality – even if we can’t always reach it, you know what “great” looks like

• Experience with workflow automation systems (e.g., Airflow, Temporal)
• Familiarity with low- and no‑code solutions such as n8n or Zapier
• Experience designing data and orchestration layers for AI‑driven workflows
• Hands‑on experience with the infrastructure required to deploy AI‑driven workflows, e.g. orchestration tools such as Lang Chain/Lang Graph or Llama Index, or vector DBs such as Pinecone, Weaviate, or pgvector

• Compensation: 150K Base Salary Annual Bonus
• Remote‑first environment (our headquarters are in Austin, TX)
• Exciting stock option grant for every full‑time employee
• 401(k) employer contribution match
• Health and wellness benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Twenty days of vacation, five sick days, twelve company holidays, and two floating holidays each year
• Generous paid parental leave of up to 14 weeks