Senior/Staff Software Engineer (Backend)

• We are hiring a Senior or Staff level Backend Engineer to join our core platform engineering group. In this high-autonomy role on a focused team, you will design, build, and scale high-throughput distributed systems that power our core backend services. You will own systems end-to-end - from API design and data modeling to deploying resilient infrastructure and monitoring performance in production

• Design, ship, and operate core distributed microservices written in Go and Python

• Build real-time event streaming and data processing pipelines using Kafka

• Architect performant, flexible API interfaces across REST, GraphQL, and gRPC protocols

• Design efficient schemas and optimize query performance for relational storage using Postgres and modern ORMs

• Provision, maintain, and scale cloud infrastructure across GCP and AWS using Terraform and GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines

• Ensure high reliability, low latency, and operational visibility across backend systems using Datadog

• Role Progession:

• First 30 days: Onboard into our development workflow, master core platform architecture, and ship your first feature

• First 60 days: Independently own sub-systems, optimize Postgres/ORM data paths, and manage cloud infrastructure updates via Terraform

• First 90 days: Lead the design and implementation of a major event-driven or API capability end-to-end and take on-call responsibilities for platform services

Benefits

• Best medical plans on the market

  (90% employee coverage, 50% dependents)

• Up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave

• Life & Disability paid by the company

• 401(k) option

• Stock options

• Access to Talkspace online therapy- Hands-on experience with cloud environments (GCP and/or AWS), Infrastructure as Code via Terraform, and continuous delivery via GitHub Actions

• Operational mindset: familiarity with observability, distributed tracing, and metrics tooling in Datadog

• Strong database fundamentals with Postgres and relational ORMs, including query optimization and schema migration strategies

• Own a technical domain with light supervision: propose direction in writing with clear specs, take review, ship, and carry the pager for what you shipped

• Deep comfort with Go and Python, with strong experience building concurrent, high-performance systems

• 7+ years building and operating backend systems in production

• Expertise designing production APIs across REST, GraphQL, or gRPC

• Experience building and maintaining event-driven architectures with Kafka

• Strong written communication to author design docs and lead clear PR reviews- Recruiter Screen (25 min)

• Meet the Hiring Manager (30 min)

• Technical Discussion – Systems & Data Architecture (60 min)

• Practical Coding & API Design Exercise Review (60 min)

• Product Interview (30 min)

• Executive Interview (30 min)