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Hyperexponential is an AI-powered platform transforming the $7 trillion insurance industry by enabling smarter risk assessment and pricing decisions. The company is backed by a16z, Highland Europe, and Battery Ventures, and is trusted by nearly 50 of the world's largest insurers.
You will join the Workflow Underwriting stream as a Senior Backend Engineer, building the next generation of the underwriting platform. This role focuses on designing and operating backend services in Kotlin or Java, with direct ownership in production. You'll work on a platform architected around AI agents from the ground up, not as an afterthought.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design, build, and operate backend services in Kotlin or Java with production ownership
- Transform ambiguous underwriting problems into simple, reliable software solutions
- Shape architectural decisions around APIs, domain models, persistence, reliability, and observability
- Develop deep domain expertise in underwriting to challenge requirements, not just implement them
- Design and build agent-assisted workflows, making judgment calls about agent autonomy vs. human control
- Use AI coding tools (Claude, etc.) as a core part of your workflow, delegating substantial work while remaining accountable for quality and security
- Collaborate across frontend engineers, product partners, and client-facing teams
- Contribute to raising the engineering bar through direct feedback
You should have strong professional experience building and running backend systems in Kotlin, Java, or another JVM language. You need solid judgment in architecture and system design—knowing what to build now, what to defer, and what will cause pain in two years. Evidence of shipping software that solved real customer or business problems, ideally with end-to-end ownership, is essential. A self-starting approach, clear communication across technical and non-technical audiences, and genuine comfort with ambiguous problems are critical. You should be confident and responsible with AI coding tools, with a critical eye on their output, and receptive to direct, frequent feedback.
Experience in insurance, underwriting, or other complex regulated domains is helpful but not required; the company will teach domain knowledge but cannot teach curiosity about it. Cross-functional experience spanning backend and frontend is a plus.
