Software Engineer (Full-stack) - Column Tax : Job Details

Software Engineer (Full-stack) At Column Tax, we're building the next generation of tax software. Our mission is to make it possible for every taxpayer to file confidently in just one click. As the fastest-growing tax e-filer of all time, we've already helped millions of Americans. Come help us build delightful, transparent, and easy-to-use tax products - and bring that experience to many, many millions more! What we are looking for at Column Tax

• Improvise, adapt, overcome. We're a startup - everyone jumps in across teams to solve problems and create forward motion.
• Empathy, communication, and teamwork. Tax software isn't a solo effort. You'll collaborate closely with engineers, tax analysts, designers, and GTM on nearly every project.
• Ownership mindset. Everyone shapes the product and engineering roadmap
• Fierce execution. We focus week to week, to deliver real value to taxpayers and partners.

What we are looking for in the role

• 4-6+ years of professional experience in software engineering or a related role.
• Track record of taking full ownership of projects from spec to ship to scale.
• Regularly takes on work beyond their current comfort zone, learning new languages, systems, or domains in order to deliver real value.
• Comfortable working and reasoning across the stack whether frontend, backend, or infrastructure.
• Bonus points for experience in tax, bookkeeping, embedded fintech.
• Bonus points for a blend of startup scrappiness and working in high-scale systems.
• Based in San Francisco / New York City, and excited to be in-office at least 3 days a week. If you're not local but are open to relocating, let us know!

Day-to-day

• Build tools and frameworks that enable efficient development and validation of tax calculations - our engineers work hard to empower our Tax Analyst team to move quickly with quality.
• Build and extend our APIs for our partners - Our partners are key to our success. We empower our partners by creating APIs that make integration seamless and intuitive.
• Create UI for our embedded tax platform - Work with Design and the Tax teams to translate complicated tax code into a delightful UI that anyone can use.
• Ingest and process millions of data points - from uploaded documents, partner integrations, and external APIs to accurately auto-fill tax returns so taxpayers don't have to.

Week-to-week

• Week 1: Meet the team, ship to prod on day one, fix 1-2 bugs to get acclimated.
• Month 1: Lead and ship a small feature, review PRs, and demo at all-hands.
• Month 3: Own a larger project, help scope future work, mentor teammates, and lead process improvements.

Interview Process Step 1: Intro call with our Head of Engineering (or a team member) This is a two-way conversation. We'll talk about your background, what you're looking for next, and the kinds of problems you enjoy solving. You'll also get a chance to learn more about Column - how we work, what we value, and how we'd support you if you joined. Bring questions! Step 2: Take home challenge We'll ask you to complete a ~3-hour project that mirrors the kind of integration or tooling work we do every day. You'll have full freedom to do it your way - this is about decision-making, clarity, and implementation, not code golf. Step 3: Interview panels The interview panels are where you'll meet several of us and work through collaborative challenges. The interviews are designed to mimic real work - like redesigning a creaky system, debugging in a sandboxed environment, and walking through a past project. The interview panels are over video calls and ~4.5 hours total over two days. Step 4: Offer Before making a formal offer, we like to speak with a few people you've worked closely with - usually a manager or peer. It helps us understand how to support you best. If all looks good, we'll move quickly to extend an offer and kick off what we hope is a long, rewarding partnership. How to apply At Column Tax, we're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If this sounds exciting - even if you're not sure you meet every requirement - we hope you'll apply. We're looking for people, not checkboxes. Email us at [email protected] with your LinkedIn/GitHub or apply here: