THE MISSION
The social sector - charities, NGOs, faith organisations, and social enterprises — manages billions of pounds annually, yet operates on financial infrastructure built for corporate businesses. The result? Fragmented tools, compliance headaches, lost Gift Aid, and money that struggles to reach the people it was meant to serve.
Udala Technologies is changing that.
We are building the first fully integrated financial infrastructure platform designed exclusively for the social sector - combining charity bank accounts, ring-fenced grant wallets, automated Gift Aid reclaim, smart disbursements, a compliance engine, SoftPOS with Gift Aid capture at the point of payment, and embedded grant receivables financing into one seamless platform.
We are revenue-model ready, have a defined go-to-market strategy. We are now looking for a technically exceptional, mission-aligned Co-Founder and CTO to build what we have designed.
THE ROLE
This is not a traditional hire. You will join as a Co-Founder and CTO, owning all technical architecture and product delivery from day one. You will have an equity stake in the business and transition to a competitive cash salary upon our seed investment closing.
You will work directly with the Founder & CEO, a Head of Product, and a Head of Compliance/MLRO — a team that understands financial services deeply and has already made significant product, regulatory, and commercial progress.
WHAT YOU WILL BUILD
- Core banking integration
- Ring-fenced grant wallet architecture with real-time fund tracking
- Automated HMRC Gift Aid reclaim engine
- Smart disbursement workflows with rule-based controls
- Compliance and AML engine tailored to charity sector obligations
- SoftPOS solution with embedded Gift Aid capture at point of payment
- Embedded grant receivables financing module (Year 2)
- A scalable, secure, cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS platform
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Essential:
- Proven experience building and/or shipping fintech or regulated financial products in the UK
- Strong expertise in API-first architecture, REST APIs, and BaaS integrations
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
- Deep knowledge of UK financial services compliance requirements (FCA, HMRC, AML/KYC/KYB)
- Experience with secure payment systems and/or SoftPOS technology
- Comfortable operating as a hands-on technical leader in an early-stage startup
- Ability to build, mentor, and eventually lead a growing engineering team
Highly Desirable:
- Prior experience in charity, NGO, or social enterprise technology
- Familiarity with Gift Aid processes and HMRC digital submission
- Experience with embedded finance, open banking, or BaaS platforms (Griffin, Modulr, ClearBank)
- Prior co-founder or CTO experience at a startup
WHAT WE OFFER
- Co-Founder title and meaningful equity stake in a high-growth fintech startup
- Transition to competitive market-rate salary upon seed funding close
- Full creative and technical ownership - you design the stack
- A founding team with deep domain expertise in financial services, compliance, and product
- A large, underserved market with genuine social impact at its core
WHO THRIVES HERE
You are the kind of engineer who gets frustrated watching good technology ideas die because no one could build them properly. You care about impact, not just code. You have worked in or around financial services long enough to understand compliance isn't an afterthought - it's a feature. You want equity in something meaningful, not just another salary at another bank.
If that sounds like you, we want to talk.
HOW TO APPLY
Send a message here on LinkedIn with:
- A brief note on why Udala resonates with you
- Your most relevant technical experience (a CV or LinkedIn profile is fine)
- One fintech or regulated product you are most proud of building or working with
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Early applications strongly encouraged.
