Staff Software Engineer
About the job
- Have 8+ years of experience building and scaling complex software systems.
- Have led architecture or technical strategy for a product or platform team.
- Be comfortable working across backend, data, and infrastructure layers, and diving into frontend when needed.
- Think in systems and excel at finding pragmatic solutions to messy problems.
- Be excited to shape the technical direction of a growing company.
- Have strong communication skills and enjoy working across disciplines.
- Be energized by ambiguity, real-world data, and building for scale.
- Use Go and TypeScript.
- Use React and Tailwind.
- Use Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Kargo, Temporal, and Dagster.
- Use Postgres, Dynamo, and Snowflake.
- Lead the design and implementation of critical systems that serve as building blocks for the platform.
- Make architectural decisions that optimize for scale, performance, and maintainability.
- Partner with product, design, and other engineering leaders to define roadmaps and scope technical investments.
- Identify and unblock high-risk areas across teams, diving deep when needed.
- Raise the bar for engineering excellence through mentorship, modeling, and thoughtful code review.
- Help establish engineering culture, norms, and hiring standards as the company grows.
About the company
Chestnut Mortgage operates in the residential mortgage market by offering a range of loan products, including purchase mortgages, home equity loans, HELOCs starting at $25,000, and refinancing options to lower monthly payments or interest rates. The process works by comparing offers from a network of over 100 lenders to secure favorable terms for borrowers, supported by automation that helps reduce fees. Key features include an instant quote tool that provides estimates in under two minutes and a rate monitoring service that guides clients on when to lock in rates. Chestnut emphasizes security measures to protect nonpublic personal information and positions itself as a facilitator that helps clients leverage existing home equity or obtain new financing. Its goal is to help borrowers obtain better loan terms and financial flexibility through lender comparison, rate timing, and automated processes.
Company Size
1-10
Company Stage
Seed
Total Funding
$130K
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
Founded
2022
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Chestnut’s September 2026 product updates emphasize real-time APIs and manual workflow reduction.
- Carrier demand for compensation modernization stays strong as producer networks grow more complex.
- If Chestnut wins one Fortune 100 carrier, distribution-wide expansion follows across partners.
What critics are saying
- Only disclosed funding is a 2022 seed; Chestnut lacks visible 2026 capital depth.
- Insurance carriers face brutal switching costs, slowing deployments and stretching sales cycles past 2026.
- Guidewire, Duck Creek, and in-house IT teams can copy distribution workflows and crush adoption.
What makes Chestnut unique
- Chestnut’s September 2026 platform separates producer, policy, and performance data cleanly.
- It automates compensation hierarchies, rules, and ledgering for insurance distribution workflows.
- Andreessen Horowitz backed Chestnut’s 2022 seed, signaling credibility with carrier buyers.
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Benefits
Stock Options
Remote Work Options
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance