Staff Backend Engineer (Python)

ABOUT BESTOW

Life insurance is one of the world's most important products. It's also one of the hardest to build, distribute, and modernize. Bestow exists to change that.

Bestow is a leading vertical technology platform serving some of the largest and most innovative life insurers. Our platform unifies the fragmented, legacy value chain, enabling carriers to launch products in weeks instead of years. Carriers choose us to scale and operate at unprecedented speed, powered by AI and automation.

Bestow isn't selling policies. We're building the infrastructure that helps an entire industry move faster, reach more people, and deliver on its promise.

Backed by leading investors (Goldman Sachs, Hedosophia, NEA, Valar, 8VC) and trusted by major carriers, Bestow is powered by a team that moves with precision, purpose, and heart. If you want to help reimagine a centuries-old industry with lasting impact, join us.

Bestow offers flexible remote/hybrid work, meaningful benefits, equity, and substantial growth opportunities.

Bestow participates in the E-Verify Program.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Engineering team is responsible for all technology for Bestow and the Bestow Platform. We serve employees, consumers, and enterprise customers. In addition to building software, we integrate and manage many third-party products used by employees and as part of the platform. Our major functional teams are product engineering, infrastructure, IT, data & analytics, MarTech, and program management. Engineering works closely with product management and design to define and prioritize the product roadmap.

As a Staff Backend Engineer on the Origination Group Engineering team, you will work closely with the Enrollment Product Managers, Underwriters, and our external partners to develop and support solutions to power our digital life insurance enrollment experience. You will also collaborate with teams across Bestow to plan and execute the product roadmap. Our system is composed of several modular services written in Python, Java, and Go. The Origination Group services integrate with other services using gRPC, REST, and async messaging patterns. Our services run on Kubernetes in Google Cloud Platform, and you will share responsibility for operating our workloads on these platforms.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• You will be developing web services using Python + PostgreSQL, Java, and Drools Rule Language.

• We're a startup with a long product roadmap and multiple partners. You will help build new platform capabilities that scale with our business.

• We work remotely, so effective written communication and teleconference skills are essential.

WHO YOU ARE

You would be a good fit for this role if:

• You seek out problems and opportunities, proactively proposing solutions.

• You are interested in the business and want to understand how your role contributes to its success.

• You take responsibility for the quality of your work and the services we provide to stakeholders.

• You write maintainable software, including automated tests.

• You provide thoughtful, respectful feedback to peers and are receptive to feedback from peers. 

• You ensure features are observable and monitored for failure.

• You work well with designers, product managers, customer support associates, and other engineers.

Additional experience:

• 8+ years of professional software development experience (backend)

• Professional experience with Python or Java is preferred

• Comfortable using Docker for local software development

• Experience working with distributed systems or microservices

• Experience with PostgreSQL or other relational databases (comfortable writing ANSI SQL)

• Experience designing APIs (Protocol Buffers, Swagger, OpenAPI, etc.)

• Experience building, deploying, operating, and troubleshooting software

• Cloud computing & Kubernetes (or similar container orchestration) preferred

TOTAL REWARDS

At Bestow, we’re proud to be awarded for our team members, innovative products, and culture. Our standard benefits include:

• Competitive salary and equity based on role

• Policies and managers that support work/life balance, like our flexible paid time off and parental leave programs

• 100% paid-premium option for medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Lifestyle stipend to support your physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing

• Flexible work-from-home policy and open to remote

• Remote and WFH options, as well as a beautiful, state-of-the-art office in Dallas’ Deep Ellum, for those who prefer an office setting

• Employee-led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Recent Employer Awards include:

• Best Place for Working Parents 2023 + 2024 + 2025

• Great Place to Work Certified, 2022 + 2023 + 2024 + 2025

• Built In Best Places to Work, 2022 + 2023 + 2025

• Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Texas 2022 + 2023

• Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance 2022 + 2023 + 2024

We value diversity at Bestow. The company will hire, recruit, and promote regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. We understand the importance of creating a safe and comfortable work environment and encourage individualism and authenticity in every team member.

Thanks for considering a job at Bestow!