Chief Technology Officer

This is a founding role. There is no salary at this stage. Compensation is equity only.
This role is for someone who wants to build a regulated fintech company from the ground up and is comfortable taking early-stage risk in exchange for long-term ownership. If short-term income stability is the priority, this is not the right fit.
About SambalPay
SambalPay is building a borrower-first intelligent credit platform that helps consumers understand their financial profile, discover the right credit options and make better borrowing decisions.
Our platform learns from every interaction, continuously improving how it understands, matches and guides borrowers throughout their credit journey.
What This Role Means
This is a technical co-founder role. You will design and build the entire technical foundation of SambalPay.
Responsibilities include:
Making architecture decisions that hold at scale (1 lakh+ users)
Embedding compliance into system design
Designing risk logic that protects capital
Balancing execution speed with long-term stability
You will not be managing engineers in abstraction. You will be building the system end to end.
Core Systems to Build1. Full Lending Lifecycle
Mobile-first onboarding
KYC orchestration
Bureau integration
Alternative data integration (if required)
Rule-based underwriting engine (v1)
Limit assignment logic
Disbursal trigger system
EMI schedule generation
Repayment tracking
Delinquency monitoring
Collections workflow logic
Internal admin and ops dashboard
The system must be modular, auditable, and NBFC-compliant.
2. Payments & Transaction Infrastructure
UPI-based disbursal flows
UPI and mandate-based repayments
IMPS fallback logic
Webhook listeners
Idempotent transaction handling
Retry and reconciliation mechanisms
Internal ledger layer
Automated settlement reporting
Every transaction must be traceable. Silent failures are unacceptable.
3. NBFC Integration & Capital Routing
SambalPay operates as an LSP with NBFC partners.
NBFC API integrations
Capital routing logic
Loan book reporting
Settlement and reconciliation systems
Partner-level data isolation
Architecture ready for multi-NBFC routing
The system must allow expansion without core rewrites.
4. Risk & Underwriting Infrastructure
Rule-based risk engine (v1)
Extensible decisioning framework (ML-ready later)
Fraud detection baseline
Early delinquency signal tracking
Explainable and auditable risk logic
The objective is structural default control.
5. Security & Compliance
Encryption at rest and in transit
Role-based access control
Immutable audit logs
API security controls
Secure cloud configuration
Backup and disaster recovery systems
Defined RTO and RPO
Data protection aligned with Indian regulatory expectations
Execution RoadmapPhase 1: Zero to MVP (0–3 Months)
Finalize architecture
Set up AWS or GCP
Build core lending engine
Develop admin panel
Integrate payment sandbox
Integrate NBFC sandbox APIs
Set up logging and monitoring
Outcome: Controlled internal MVP simulating full loan lifecycle.
Phase 2: MVP to Live (3–6 Months)
Production-grade infrastructure
Live UPI disbursals
Bureau integration
Risk engine v1 deployment
EMI automation
Reconciliation system
Fraud baseline deployment
Outcome: Real users, real disbursals, tightly monitored exposure.
Phase 3: Live to Scale (6–18 Months)
Queue-based asynchronous processing
Horizontal scaling
Database optimization
Distributed caching
Load and stress testing
Analytics and data warehouse layer
Infrastructure cost control per borrower
Multi-NBFC routing
Target: 100K+ active borrowers without architectural failure.
Long-Term Architecture Expectations
As scale increases, the system must support:
Stateless services
Event-driven processing
Distributed caching
Database partitioning
Multi-zone deployment
High availability
Partner-level data segmentation
Scaling should not require rebuilding the product.
FLDG & DLG Compliance
The system must support compliant First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) and Default Loss Guarantee (DLG) structures:
Strict exposure caps as per RBI norms
No implicit or open-ended guarantees
Portfolio-level tracking
Real-time exposure monitoring
Automated cap enforcement
Clear audit logs
Segregation of guaranteed portfolios
Transparent reporting
Compliance must be built into system logic, not handled manually.
Experience Required
5–10 years in fintech, lending, or payments
Strong backend expertise (Python / Node.js / Go)
Frontend exposure (React / Next.js)
AWS or GCP architecture experience
Experience integrating financial institutions
Handling sensitive financial data
Clear understanding of lending lifecycle and repayment mechanics
Strong Advantage
Early-stage or founding engineer experience
Built underwriting/decision systems
Taken fintech from MVP to live users
Exposure to collections systems
Understanding lending unit economics

Work arrangement
No