Job description

ABOUT THE COMPANY Valon is the leading AI platform for mortgage servicing, building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance. Before providing the system of record that powers the entire industry, we built and ran our own mortgage servicer on it. That gave us a real regulated environment to prove our technology could replace the mainframe systems servicers have used for decades. Carrington acquired that servicer and adopted ValonOS as its core platform, allowing us to focus entirely on scaling our SaaS platform. ValonOS is now on track to power 1 in 6 U.S. mortgages across major mortgage servicers like Newrez, Carrington, and ServiceMac. Every process on the platform is structured and programmable, enabling our AI agents to perform core servicing work, like handling payments, escrow, and homeowner questions, directly within the system's controls. We recently raised a $150 million Series D at a $2.3 billion valuation by new investor Ribbit Capital, with continued support from existing backer a16z, amongst others. ENGINEERING AT VALON Our engineering team powers a modern software ecosystem designed to disrupt one of the most outdated and heavily regulated industries in finance: mortgage servicing. We’ve built the foundation of a scalable platform capable of managing billions in assets with precision and reliability. Now we’re focused on scaling infrastructure, improving developer experience, and building high-leverage systems that support rapid product iteration and long-term business growth. We’re a tight-knit, high-agency group of engineers from Stripe, Jane Street, Meta, and Google, and we aim to do the best work of our lives—together. Our headquarters are in New York City, with a new San Francisco office opening this year. We also fully support remote work. ABOUT THE ROLE We’re looking for an EM or Senior Engineering Manager to lead our Cloud Infrastructure efforts on the Platform team. In this role, you’ll manage and grow a high-impact team responsible for the foundational infrastructure powering all of Valon’s products. You’ll work across all our production systems (compute, databases, storage, and networking)—ensuring our platform is scalable, secure, and reliable. We handle over 100mm background jobs per day and expect to scale >10x over the next 2 years. Some example projects on the roadmap: - Adopt new data stores that support our growth: Vitess, Clickhouse, Redis. - Scale our batch processing control plane for faster component creation and fulfillment. - Production-equivalent sandbox environment for customer testing, demos, etc. You’ll operate with a product management mindset, balancing near-term priorities with long-term platform vision. You’ll partner closely with engineering, product, and operations to define and deliver cross-cutting infrastructure initiatives. This is a hands-on leadership role—you’ll guide architecture decisions, write code when needed, and deeply understand how our systems work. You'll also be a people-first leader, focused on recruiting, coaching, giving feedback, and helping engineers thrive through 360° feedback and continuous development. RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead a team of 5+ engineers focused on infrastructure and platform tooling. - Own technical strategy, planning, and execution for core platform initiatives, with an emphasis on scalability, reliability, and security. - Act as a strong technical mentor and hands-on contributor when needed—guiding architecture, writing code, and debugging systems. - Collaborate with stakeholders across engineering, product, and operations to build infrastructure that unlocks product innovation and operational excellence. - Establish and evolve engineering processes for continuous improvement, velocity, and quality. - Invest in recruiting and developing engineering talent through coaching, mentorship, and ongoing feedback (including 360 feedback). - Promote a high-agency, high-accountability team culture with a bias for action and clear communication. - Advocate for technical excellence and pragmatic decision-making, grounded in deep system knowledge. IDEAL BACKGROUND - 4+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 1+ years in a tech lead or engineering management role. - Experience working on infrastructure, platform engineering, DevOps, or cloud systems. - Strong systems thinking and understanding of how backend and infrastructure layers interact. - Track record of leading teams in fast-paced, high-growth environments. - Demonstrated ability to mentor and grow engineers while fostering a high-performance, feedback-driven team culture. - Excellent communication skills and ability to align cross-functional partners around platform strategy. - Hands-on experience with cloud providers (e.g., AWS, GCP), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and distributed systems. - A strong product mindset and the ability to translate business problems into scalable technical solutions. BENEFITS - Compensation: competitive salary with a meaningful stake in the company via equity, and 401(k) plan. The base salary range reflects multiple levels. We assess level based on a combination of experience and interview performance. - Health & well-being: we’ll invest in your physical and mental well-being with comprehensive medical, dental, & vision benefits. - Free Food: daily lunch, and dinner provided through Forkable for in-office team members. - Commuter benefits: pre-tax deductions for public transit, rideshares, and parking to simplify your daily commute. - Grow together: company wide orientation for you to successfully onboard and other learning & development opportunities including regular review cycles that feature 360-degree feedback. - Play together: quarterly budgets for team and company outings. Use it for team swag, cooking classes, or team dinners. - Generous time off: flexible paid time off with no annual limit, sick days, and 11 company holidays. - Baby bonding time: 12 weeks of fully paid leave for both birthing and non-birthing parents, so you can spend uninterrupted time welcoming and caring for your newest family member. #LI-Remote Throughout the interview process, please remember that emails will only be from valon.com valon.com email addresses. We will never ask for any personally identifiable information during the interview process itself. Please reach out to talent@valon.com if you have any requests to verify the authenticity of an outreach. Valon is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. Valon makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

Requirements

Must-haves

Our headquarters are in New York City, with a new San Francisco office opening this year. We also fully support remote work.
Adopt new data stores that support our growth: Vitess, Clickhouse, Redis.
Scale our batch processing control plane for faster component creation and fulfillment.
Production-equivalent sandbox environment for customer testing, demos, etc.
Lead a team of 5+ engineers focused on infrastructure and platform tooling.
Own technical strategy, planning, and execution for core platform initiatives, with an emphasis on scalability, reliability, and security.
Act as a strong technical mentor and hands-on contributor when needed—guiding architecture, writing code, and debugging systems.
Collaborate with stakeholders across engineering, product, and operations to build infrastructure that unlocks product innovation and operational excellence.
Establish and evolve engineering processes for continuous improvement, velocity, and quality.
Invest in recruiting and developing engineering talent through coaching, mentorship, and ongoing feedback (including 360 feedback).
Promote a high-agency, high-accountability team culture with a bias for action and clear communication.
Advocate for technical excellence and pragmatic decision-making, grounded in deep system knowledge.
4+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 1+ years in a tech lead or engineering management role.
Experience working on infrastructure, platform engineering, DevOps, or cloud systems.
Strong systems thinking and understanding of how backend and infrastructure layers interact.
Track record of leading teams in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
Demonstrated ability to mentor and grow engineers while fostering a high-performance, feedback-driven team culture.
Excellent communication skills and ability to align cross-functional partners around platform strategy.
Hands-on experience with cloud providers (e.g., AWS, GCP), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and distributed systems.
A strong product mindset and the ability to translate business problems into scalable technical solutions.

Nice-to-haves

None flagged.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

aiawsgcpdockerkubernetes

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Dental

Vision

401(K)

Paid Time Off