Software Engineer, Full Stack
Shepherd is hiring a Software Engineer, Full Stack in San Francisco, United States. It pays $170k-$400k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Shepherd.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this software engineer role is Little AI โโโโ: aI is not part of the work.
- Pay on this posting starts in line with the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- The posting mentions AI agents among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a mid-level role.
- Shepherd has 24 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Build the insurance behind the physical world.
The world is building data centers, energy projects, hospitals, schools, and critical infrastructure. Every one of those projects needs insurance to move forward. Yet the process of getting that insurance still depends on scattered documents, manual work, and weeks of back-and-forth.
Shepherd is rebuilding commercial insurance with software, data, AI, and deep underwriting expertise. We started in construction and energy, where understanding the specifics of a project matters and better decisions have consequences far beyond a screen.
We develop insurance products, decide which risks to insure and how to price them, and partner with established insurers to back the coverage. We own the platform our team uses to turn complex submissions into coverage for the builders and operators shaping the world around us.
Real problems. Real ownership.
Our engineers, designers, underwriters, CX, and actuaries build together. The problems span turning messy documents into reliable data, making pricing more precise, and designing AI agents that can take on increasingly complex underwriting work.
The ambition is a platform where experts spend more time on judgment and relationships, supported by software that handles the work around them. Join us to build systems whose decisions help real projects get built.
630+ customers / $500B+ insured project value
Our investorsCapital to build. Partners to grow with.
$67M total funding / $42M Series B in March 2026
Shepherd is backed by Intact Private Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Spark Capital, Susa Ventures, and Y Combinator. In March 2026, we announced a $42M Series B led by Intact Private Capital, bringing our total funding to $67M.
Intact is also a capacity partner. Alongside its investment, Intact works with Shepherd to bring insurance products to market. That relationship connects our platform and underwriting expertise with the resources of a global insurer.
A bigger opportunity ahead
We are investing in new insurance products, our underwriting team, and the path toward autonomous underwriting. For the people joining Shepherd, that means the chance to shape both the technology and the business it makes possible.
Our backing brings together investors who build technology companies and partners who understand insurance. We are building a company that earns the confidence of both.
The Role
Weโre hiring a Software Engineer to build the core infrastructure behind underwriting, pricing, and policy workflows. This is high-leverage work. The systems you build will directly impact revenue, loss ratios, and how we scale.
Youโll work closely with engineers, actuaries, and underwriters to turn messy real-world logic into clean, durable systems. A lot of what we do starts in Excel and ends in production code. We care deeply about correctness, clarity, and speed.
This is an ownership-heavy role. Youโll be expected to reason from first principles, ship quickly, and improve things that feel broken.
What Youโll Do
Build and own backend systems that power pricing models, underwriting workflows, and policy lifecycle infrastructure
Translate complex actuarial and underwriting logic into maintainable, production-grade services
Improve the performance and reliability of our core rating and decision systems
Contribute to architectural decisions that set the foundation for how we scale
Work directly with domain experts to define the right abstractions, not just implement tickets
Hold a high bar for code quality, simplicity, and long-term maintainability
What Weโre Looking For
4+ years of professional software engineering experience
Strong backend experience in TypeScript, Python, or similar
Experience designing APIs and working with data-heavy systems
Comfort operating in ambiguous, high-responsibility environments
A bias toward ownership and shipping
Good judgment โ knowing when to move fast and when to slow down
Our Tech Stack
Frontend
React & Next.js
Typescript
GraphQL w/ Apollo
Backend
Node.js
Postgres & Redis
Typescript
GraphQL APIs
Youโll Likely Thrive Here If
You like building foundational systems, not surface-level features
You enjoy working at the intersection of business logic and engineering
You want your work to directly impact company outcomes
You prefer small teams, high standards, and real accountability
You care about building something durable
Why Join
Weโre still early. The decisions we make now will shape the company for years. If you want to build core infrastructure, work closely with domain experts, and help modernize a massive industry, this is a rare opportunity to do it at the right stage.
How we workShepherd runs on four values. Here's what each one means in this seat.
Think big, build big. We exist to protect progress and the industries that rely on it. The work here is aimed at a system that runs on its own, and the roadmap gets sequenced backward from that rather than forward from what's easy.
Win together. We rise as one. We support each other, raise the bar, and celebrate collective success. Come set a standard the rest of the team inherits.
Cross the aisle. Collaboration wins. We listen deeply, work across boundaries, and prioritize shared success over individual lanes. The best product calls here come from engineers who've sat with underwriters and underwriters who understand where the model breaks, and much of this job is listening closely enough on both sides to make that happen.
Go get it. We act with urgency, move with confidence, take smart risks, and push forward with intention. Nobody hands you the roadmap, the data, or the meeting invite. You pull the failing runs, book the time with the underwriters, and decide what matters.
๐ฅ Premium Healthcare
100% contribution to health, dental, and vision
๐ฅ Fertility benefits and family building support
๐๏ธ Flexible PTO
Flexibility to take the time off, recharge, and perform
๐ฅ Daily lunches, dinners, and snacks
We work together, and enjoy meals together too
๐ฅ๏ธ SF, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and LA Offices
๐ Professional Development
Access to premium coaching, including leadership development
๐ฆ Competitive 401(k) Plan
๐ถ Dog-friendly office
Plenty of dogs to play with and make friends with in the SF office
How we rate this
Software Engineer, Full Stack at Shepherd rates 23 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- โโโโ Builds AI80 to 100
- โโโโ Works on AI60 to 79
- โโโโ Uses AI40 to 59
- โโโโ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
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Pay
- This job starts at
- $170k
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting starts close to the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
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