Lead Backend Engineer (Digital Bank - Tokyo)

Overview

Under the mission of "Money Forward. Move your life forward," Money Forward aims to resolve the financial concerns and anxieties of individuals and businesses through the power of technology.

We have partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to establish a new company in preparation for the launch of a new digital bank.

We are currently seeking candidates for the position of Lead Backend Engineer as part of this initiative.
*Based on the press release announced on April 16, 2025.

※ This position involves employment with Money Forward, Inc., and a secondment to the new company (SMBC Money Forward Bank Preparatory Corporation). The evaluation system and employee benefits will follow the policies of Money Forward, Inc.

Who we are?

We are a startup team partnering with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to establish a new digital bank. Our mission is to build embedded financial products from the ground up, with a strong focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Development Structure

We operate in a small, fast-moving team while collaborating closely with Money Forward Group companies (MFV and MFI).
The team consists of cross-functional members Product Managers, Backend Engineers, Frontend Engineers, QA Engineers, and SRE working together with tight communication throughout the development process.

Responsibilities and Duties

As a Software Engineer in the Application Development Team, you will leverage Mambu, a leading cloud banking platform for neobanks and challenger banks, to build one of the most reliable and agile banking systems in the industry. Our goal is to shape the future of digital banking in Japan, making it more accessible and user-friendly than ever before.

• Acquire domain knowledge in digital banking, including deposits, loans, clearing and settlement, basic accounting, domestic exchange, and Zengin network.
• Promote development as a Scrum team leader
• Actively engage with product owners to define requirements.
• Develop, test, and deploy code that meets non-functional quality gates such as static code analysis, software composition analysis, SAST, and DAST, while maintaining numerical accuracy.
• Design and build high-performance, scalable microservices centered around APIs.
• Pursue test automation and continuous improvement, including API testing.
• Take responsibility for the entire software development lifecycle.

Required Skills and Experience

We are seeking candidates who bring strong experience and expertise in some of the following areas.

• Experience in understanding the background and intent of business requirements and independently defining application specifications.
• Ability to proactively design specifications and move forward even when requirements are not fully finalized.
• Knowledge or hands-on experience in at least one banking domain area, such as customer management, core banking systems, AML, compliance, accounting, or knowledge and experience in the banking domain, such as Zengin connection.
• 7 or more years of deep experience, or a proven track record of leading the design and development of large-scale, mission-critical systems.
• Proven track record of leading technical recommendations (considering feasibility and technical risks) on product requirements based on domain knowledge.
• Proven track record of driving technical selection, formulating design policies, and leading the elimination of technical debt in microservice architecture.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing systems to ensure the integrity of complex financial transactions and resolving database performance bottlenecks.
• Experience in leading the formulation of testing strategies (e.g., unit, integration, load, contract testing) and the introduction/improvement of test automation frameworks.
• Experience in production-level service operation and design based on cost optimization and reliability (SRE principles) in major cloud environments (e.g., AWS).
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in designing systems that comply with complex financial regulations and security requirements (e.g., PCI DSS, FISC Security Guidelines).
• Experience in leading data model design for journal entry and balance management in core banking systems based on double-entry bookkeeping knowledge.
• Knowledge and experience in designing interfaces for cooperation with domestic settlement networks (e.g., Zengin Net) and CCPs (Clearing Organizations).
• Experience in introducing and establishing a culture of DevOps/SRE across teams and improving incident response and post-mortem processes.
• Experience contributing to the recruitment and development of engineers (mentoring, evaluation, training).
• Experience in formulating a technical selection roadmap and explaining/proposing technical strategy to management and product teams.
• Proven track record of formulating concrete strategies for improving development efficiency using AI and driving technical standardization and adoption within the team.
• Money Forward recently announced our AI Strategy roadmap which focuses on improving AI-driven operational efficiencies, as well as integrating AI agents into our products to deliver better value to our users.

Language Requirements

• Japanese: Business level
• English: Business level (TOEIC score of 700 or above)

Who We’re Looking For

• Excited about being part of a startup launching a new digital bank.
• Ability to quickly adapt to changing priorities and situations.
• A critical thinker who questions the status quo.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate ideas clearly.
• Willingness to learn necessary domain knowledge and technologies.
• Understanding of DevOps/DevSecOps.

Technology Stack and Tools Used

• Kotlin, Spring Boot, Gradle, jOOQ, Liquibase, Kotest/JUnit, Karate/Rest Assured
• Redis, Postgresql
• Docker, AWS ECS
• AWS SQS, SNS, EventBridge
• Mambu cloud banking platform
• GitHub, Backstage, Amazon ECR
• Claude Code, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Sonar Cloud, Detekt, AeyeScan
• ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemni

Work Environment

At Money Forward, we provide an environment where we can create world-class services together, and we are looking forward to welcoming you.

• Provided PC Specs: We provide PCs equipped with the latest CPUs (MacOS or Windows). Custom-made PCs tailored to business requirements and replacements with the latest OS are also possible.
• Money Forward Library: We have a library system where you can freely borrow books, ranging from technical books to management books. Desired books can be purchased at the company's expense.
• Referral Driven: We cover the cost of recruitment meals. There is a referral reward system.
• Conference Participation Support: The company partially covers participation in domestic and international conferences, such as RubyKaigi and Google I/O.