I am assembling a new loan-processing platform and need a seasoned Node.js developer to stand up the entire backend. The core of the job is to architect and code secure user authentication and authorization, handle the full life-cycle of a loan application form, and build reliable payment processing with clear tracking of every transaction and status change. For data persistence I would like you to work with a SQL database—MySQL or PostgreSQL are both fine—so please structure your models and migrations accordingly. Beyond our own data store, the service must connect smoothly to several third-party providers: a credit-score API to pull applicant scores in real time, a payment gateway for disbursements and repayments, and notification services that let us push SMS and email updates at each milestone. Key deliverables • RESTful (or GraphQL, if you prefer) API endpoints covering auth, application submission, underwriting status, payment events, and notifications • Clean schema and migration scripts for the chosen SQL engine • Integration modules for the credit score API, payment gateway, and SMS/email notifications, all wrapped in environment-based configs • Unit and integration tests that prove the critical flows work end-to-end • Brief setup documentation so another developer can run the project locally with Docker or a similar container tool If you follow best practices—TypeScript, eslint, proper error handling, async/await hygiene—you’ll fit right in. Looking forward to seeing how you would approach this build.