Staff Backend Engineer - Core Product
About the job
- You have 8+ years of software engineering experience.
- You know Python (our main stack), though strong candidates from other object-oriented backgrounds are considered.
- You have experience with serverless technologies (Lambda, EC2), asynchronous workflows, and cloud environments.
- You are comfortable with relational databases, ideally PostgreSQL.
- You have strong fundamentals in system design, debugging, and problem-solving.
- You communicate proactively, surface blockers, ask the right questions, and keep stakeholders in the loop.
- Design services, data models, pipelines, and evaluation loops as part of the Core Backend team.
- Build systems at the center of Kalepa to enable cleaner data, more transparent decisions, and more valuable products.
- Join a high-ownership team responsible for some of Kalepa’s most business-critical infrastructure. Your work will make our data more complete, our decisions more transparent, and our products even more valuable.
- Bonus: experience with large language models or generative AI, distributed systems.
About the company
Kalepa provides an AI-powered decision support platform called Copilot for commercial insurance underwriters. It combines artificial and human intelligence to identify true hazards and exposures in businesses, helping underwriters make more accurate risk assessments and pricing. The platform is offered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) to specialty carriers and other commercial insurers, enabling them to write new and renewal business more efficiently. Copilot works by blending data-driven insights with expert review to guide underwriting decisions, reducing time to quote and improving binding rates. Kalepa differentiates itself by integrating AI with human judgment to focus on real-world hazards and exposures, delivering measurable improvements in underwriting speed and accuracy. The company’s goal is to help insurance carriers reduce anticipated losses and operate more efficiently, ultimately increasing profitability through better risk selection and pricing.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$14M
Headquarters
New York City, New York
Founded
2018
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Kalepa signed Church Mutual in September 2026, expanding its carrier footprint.
- James River partnered in February 2026 to improve efficiency and portfolio management.
- Bishop Street expanded Kalepa in February 2026 across London MGAs Avid and Landmark.
What critics are saying
- Munich Re specialty, Bowhead, and others can internalize similar underwriting workflows.
- Church Mutual and James River depend on continued product performance, not brand loyalty.
- If underwriting losses hit Kalepa Insurance Services, the software story gets overshadowed quickly.
What makes Kalepa unique
- Copilot combines underwriting AI with human judgment for commercial risk selection.
- Kalepa’s platform is embedded across carriers and MGAs, including James River and Merchants.
- Kalepa now couples software with its own MGA, Kalepa Insurance Services.
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Benefits
- Competitive salary
- Significant equity options package
- 100% covered medical, 100% covered vision and dental
- 20 days of PTO a year.
- Global team offsites
- Healthy living/gym stipend.
- Mobile phone bill stipend
- Continuing education credits
- Home office stipend