About The Role
Lean started by making it easy to connect to bank accounts across the Middle East.
Now we're building the infrastructure for businesses to store and move money not just read data, but become the financial backbone for our clients.
Store is our banking-as-a-service product. It's where Lean is headed: from open banking into full financial infrastructure. We're building the systems that let businesses hold funds, manage accounts, and process payments without building their own banking relationships from scratch.
This is early. The product exists, but we're still learning what it needs to become. We're talking to clients, iterating on what we've built, and figuring out the shape of this market in real time. Right now, store team is two people: our longest-serving Principal Engineer and a co-founder acting as PM. You'd be the third. We're keeping it small on purpose, so we can move fast, stay close to the work, and skip the processes that slow teams down when they don't need them.
TheMoment
Lean has tripled in size over the past twelve months. We’re on track to triple again next year. What started as the region’s pioneering Open Finance platform is now becoming something bigger: a multi-product infrastructure company powering payments, data, and lending across MENA. We’re expanding into new markets, opening offices, acquiring businesses, and building capabilities that didn’t exist here before.
We’ve processed billions of dollars in transactions. We’re trusted by 350+ clients - from Binance and Careem to Etisalat - and backed by General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Shorooq. Our $67.5M Series B was just the beginning.
What you’ll doBuild core payments and money storage systems, often from scratch
Work directly with clients to understand their needs and translate them into product
Collaborate closely with product and commercial teams to shape what we're building
Ship infrastructure that moves money - real systems with real stakes
Learn the market alongside us, because much of this is new territory for everyone
Strong Java and Spring Boot experience (recent, not from years ago)
Ability to contribute to architectural discussions and be able to clearly articulate and document ideas
Background in payments, banking-as-a-service, or fintech is a strong plus
You can take a product spec and figure out the implementation without everything being defined upfront
Nice to have: experience building or working with ledger systems
Nice to have: experience with crypto payments and acceptance
You're eager to learn - about the technology, the market, and the clients. This product is new to Lean and new to the region. You'll be figuring things out alongside us.
Low ego. You'll have things to teach us and things to learn from us. We want a team where that exchange happens easily in both directions.
You care about what you're building and who you're building it for.
You're comfortable talking to clients directly. This isn't a role where you sit behind a ticket queue.
You work well with non-engineers and can hold a conversation without making it painful.
- You want to manage people. This is an IC role focused on building, not leading a team.
- You prefer having everything defined before you start. We don't spec out the next ten years and then execute. We collaborate constantly, talk to clients, and iterate based on what we learn. If ambiguity frustrates you, this will be difficult.
- You'd rather not talk to clients. You will. Regularly. That's part of how we build.
- You want to blend into a large team. There are three of us. Your contributions will be visible, and so will your gaps.
You want to work closely with a principal engineer and a co-founder, not report up through layers
You're drawn to building something foundational rather than maintaining something mature
You learn quickly and want an environment that demands it
You'd rather be close to the business and the clients than insulated from them
NB. While we think the above experience could be important, we’re keen to hear from people that believe they have valuable…
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