What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sr. Software Engineer - Platform position at Authentic?
Authentic is a tech-enabled MGA (managing general agent). We design and run insurance programs for specific kinds of businesses, like restaurants, gyms, and power producers. Brokers bring us the businesses that need coverage, and carriers back our policies. Every program runs on a platform we built ourselves, and we own every line of code behind it. Engineers and insurance experts build it side by side in New York and Dayton, Ohio. Since our founding in 2022, we’ve grown to 80 people and been named to the 2026 CB Insights Insurtech 50.
- Lead the design and implementation of multiple complex projects to build the next generation of insurance infrastructure, taking ownership from problem definition through delivery, without needing heavy direction
- Identify bottlenecks and build solutions that help us move faster, using first-principles thinking combined with practical judgment about what matters most
- Own problems end-to-end, thinking through everything from user experience, data models, scalability, operability and ongoing metrics. You'll dig deep to understand root causes and optimize for real-world outcomes that unblock the business and improve user experience
- Identify and implement reliability and performance improvements across the stack (product, infra, data, operability)
- Iterate on existing features to a high degree of excellence based on user feedback
- Mentor and coach other engineers on the team
Experience
- 5 years of experience building and maintaining production systems at scale, with a track record of being "right a lot"—knowing when to move fast vs. when to slow down
- 5 years building distributed systems in Python or Go
- Strong understanding of modern API development best practices and design
- Familiarity with AWS, infrastructure-as-code and deployment best practices
- Demonstrated high agency and ownership: you naturally clarify what "good" looks like, ask great questions, and drive to completion
- Track record of relentless focus on reliability without compromising on velocity, ideally going from 0-1 at a high growth startup
Our (FTE) benefits
- Competitive salary, equity, and role trajectory
- Comprehensive health benefits for you and your family
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Unlimited PTO
- Paid parental leave
About Authentic
Authentic builds the infrastructure that program insurance runs on. We partner with leading brokerages to design and manage custom insurance programs, backed by A and A- rated carriers operating nationwide. Brokers bring the data and distribution. We bring everything else: the technology, the capacity, and the underwriting expertise to stand up specialized programs at speed and build them to last. We’re a Series A company backed by top investors, including FirstMark Capital, Zigg Capital, Slow Ventures, Clocktower, Commerce Ventures, and Altai. We’ve grown over 15x in the past year with a massive market opportunity ahead.
Authentic is committed to building an inclusive working environment regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, education, age, or other personal characteristics. We believe that people do their best work when they can be themselves, and different perspectives and experiences make us stronger as a team. We’re proud of the supportive and inclusive workplace we're building together and are always working to make it even better.