Principal Software Architect (Portland)

The Mission

Banking integrations are traditionally rigid, brittle, and human-heavy. At Zelody, we aren’t just mapping APIs—we are building an agentic orchestration backbone that treats financial data as a living, self-correcting ecosystem.

The Role

This is a high-leverage position combining system design, hands-on execution, and technical mentorship. As our first Principal-level hire, you will:

• Design the AI-Native Blueprint: Move beyond wrappers. You will architect a system where LLMs and Agentic frameworks aren\'t just features, but the core logic of the orchestration layer.
• Code the Foundation: Spend 60–70% of your time in the IDE, building the high-stakes components of our event-driven architecture (TypeScript/Node/Python).
• Lead & Scale: Act as a player-coach. You will oversee a lean team of engineers, conducting deep code reviews and setting the standard for Zelody-grade engineering.
• Deconstruct Legacy Constraints: Analyze how core banking systems (FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry) communicate and design agentic bridges that make integration feel like magic to the end user.

What You Bring (The AI Mindset)

• Architecture over Implementation: You don\'t just know how to build; you know what to build to make traditional workflows obsolete.
• 7+ Years of Engineering Excellence: You’ve scaled distributed systems in high-stakes environments (Fintech, Payments, or Defense).
• AI as a First Principle: You have a track record of building with LLMs/Agents where the AI handles the uncertainty of data mapping and decisioning.
• The 0 to 1 Scar Tissue: You’ve been in the trenches of a pre-seed/seed startup and know when to build for right now vs. forever.
• Leadership Maturity: Experience managing or supervising small, high-output teams. You know how to unblock others without micro-managing.

Technical Stack & Requirements

• Languages: Deep expertise in TypeScript/Node.js and Python (for AI/Data orchestration).
• Infrastructure: AWS-native, event-driven architectures, and modern workflow engines (Temporal, etc.).
• Compliance: You treat SOC2, PCI, and GDPR as architectural constraints, not afterthoughts.
• Data: Familiarity with the alphabet soup of finance (ISO 20022, NACHA) is a plus, but the ability to automate their translation is the requirement.

Why Join Zelody?

We are backed by Counterpart Ventures and The Fintech Fund , we have revenue, and we have a massive problem to solve. We’re turning data noise into a symphony. If you’re tired of building incremental CRUD apps and want to design the autonomous future of finance, let’s talk.

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