Not your normal fintech! The future of investing for the ethically minded, a robo advisor targeting the millennial global market with unique offerings (investing and banking) to a hugely underserved market. 3 years in the making and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain with offices in Denmark and Bahrain. Only the onboarding is left before we are accepting live clients! This is a huge opportunity to join an established team in a senior position just before we launch. Equity on offer.

COCOA is a global mobile application designed to help people save and invest for their future without compromising their ethics.

Sustainability and ethical investing is the focus of who and what COCOA stands for. Most importantly all our investments and processes are Islamic-compliant opening up the possibility of investing to much of the 25% of the world's population (roughly 1.8 billion people) who have been largely ignored or with little to no access.

Our diversified long-term managed portfolio solution means investors need not worry about making investment decisions and with our 100% digital on-boarding process new investors can be signed up in minutes.

COCOA has offices in Copenhagen and soon in Bahrain where we are regulated by the Central Bank. The company is also in talks with a number of Middle Eastern Banks to develop the world’s first halal neo-bank.

Our backend is fully developed and tested as is our KYC and AML processes having been designed and built to the highest European standards and security levels. In a nutshell, we are only 6 – 8 weeks from launching to a global market, but we need a new tech lead to getting us over the finish line.

What is happening now?

We are looking for a new technical lead that can manage the technology side of the business as the company develops, to come at a partner level. So far we have bootstrapped the business but are in talks with VCs to gain the funding to expand across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

What we are building?

We are building the future of ethical investing and banking through a native iOS and Android applications that will be users' one-stop solution for all their financial needs. Starting with the lucrative wealth management sector the company will further develop more financial products as well as consumer services and roll these out globally.

We want to make it as easy as possible for people who are ethically driven, Muslim or not, to choose services and products that reflect their values. We keep people engaged by gamifying the process of reaching financial goals by using open banking to offer micro-investing where daily expenses are automatically rounded up and invested. 

The tech setup:

We use the latest Microsoft technologies, using a combination of Microsoft MVC web and Angular for the frontend and REST-based WEB APIs for the backend, with SQL Server databases as the backend store.

Using the .NET Framework allows us to take advantage of a mature set of tools and frameworks which make it possible to build applications that are fast, scalable and secure at their core.

We’ve used bank-level security to encrypt sensitive data such as bank details and passwords. We use encryption with a minimum of 256 bit keys with random salts.

Tasks:

We need someone who is ready to wear many hats and get stuck in. Excellent developer skills are of course very important, as you will very much be the technical leader from the beginning. Planning and managing junior developers will also be just as important as you take a more operational leadership role as the company scales.

Our success is from solving problems for our users and making their lives easier so we need a person who is very UX focused and very test-driven. User tests and LEAN methodology will need to be at the core of the product.

We are a small international team with a very flat structure and a lot of independent thinking. We certainly are not looking for a code monkey, but an important member of the team that can deliver but also brings ideas on how to innovate and improve on the product and who can think strategically.

Your tasks will be:

• Executing and deploying on the app (code yourself)

• Manage developers, graphic design and UX/Gamification

• Execute. You need to plan projects and meet deadlines.

• Gather customer feedback/test results and iterate base upon these

• Set the direction and make executive decisions.

Skills we’re looking for: 

• Up-to-date coding skills

• Experience deploying apps

• Planning and management skills both internal and external teams

• A feel for UX / UI

• Good positive attitude willing to get things done and be part of a team

• Willingness to travel to Bahrain from time to time

What we can offer:

We are a bootstrapped start-up right now but already recognized as a global provider of Islamic compliant products (although we have yet to launch). Our one main competitor is valued at US$ 130 million after two years and we plan to overtake them in the next 24 months. We have the relationships with banks signed and the all-important support from the Central Bank and licensed.

COCOA was set up by two friends and the atmosphere we want to retain is one of hard work, but also working on something we believe in that actually makes a difference. Expect a serious tone, but also a lot of fun and social activities and friendship.

Right now we can only offer an equity stake but as soon as funding is secured a competitive salary will also follow. As said we are six weeks from launching and in talks with international VCs for funding.

Our team is already very international, and we have no preference as to age, gender, colour, etc… so if the position seems what you are looking for (even if you lack some of the skills) and you think you will be a good fit then we invite you to apply.

We look forward to hearing from you, so please apply now!