Senior Software Engineer, Backend

About the role

This role designs and maintains production backend systems to power employment infrastructure for a global workforce. Solutions emerge from coordinated effort across an API product, supporting product, engineering, and support teams.

Software engineers turn product ideas into working code. Engineers work in small teams, review each other's work, and ship in small batches. Most teams follow agile practices such as sprints and daily standups. Engineers also write tests, fix bugs, and improve performance. The field values clear communication as much as technical skill. Engineers spend part of every week on planning, code review, and debugging, not just writing new code. The ability to explain a technical decision in plain words separates strong engineers from the rest.

Key facts

What you'll do

Break down ambiguous, high-level problems into concrete engineering solutions to translate requirements into backend services for an API product that customers depend on.

Coordinate with product and support teams so delivered solutions align with problems and meet stakeholder expectations for all parties.

Implement features for an API product that powers impactful applications while upholding strict security and privacy standards in every deployment.

Adapt your approach and responsibilities across diverse domains to execute tasks end to end for the infrastructure that powers work.

Requirements

Show a record of balancing technology and people skills, with a high degree of empathy in cross-functional collaboration.

Prove experience cutting through ambiguity to turn high-level problems into well defined engineering solutions for an API product.

Demonstrate comfort wearing many hats and executing on varied tasks without strict role boundaries.

Confirm that you can thrive in a fast moving environment where priorities shift and problems require thinking.

Confirm that you value delivering the right solution for the right problem, aligned with product, engineering, and support teams.

Practical notes

The role is based in San Francisco and New York City, and the position is full time.

Typical interview steps

Hiring for engineering roles usually starts with a recruiter screen, followed by one or two technical rounds. Candidates often solve a coding problem, discuss past projects, and answer system design questions. Some loops include a take-home task. Final rounds typically cover team fit and give candidates a chance to ask questions. Interviewers look for how you break down an unfamiliar problem, not just whether you reach the answer. Practicing a few problems aloud and reviewing your own past projects are the best preparation.

Good to know

Backend engineering in this context relies on API design and reliable distributed systems.

The role involves working with diverse perspectives and career paths, and values curiosity, speed, and ownership.

Security and privacy are foundational considerations for the infrastructure built by this team.

The work supports applications that power global workforce management at scale.

Collaboration across product, engineering, and support is central to delivering solutions for complex problems.

Questions to ask

Worth asking in any interview: how the team measures success, who the role works with daily, what the onboarding looks like, and what the company is trying to achieve this year. Asking what past hires did well is a strong final question. Keep the list short and pick the questions that matter most to you.

Career growth

Engineering careers usually progress from individual contributor to senior, staff, and principal levels. Some engineers move into management and lead teams of five to twenty people. Others stay on the technical track. Growth follows demonstrated impact, not tenure alone. A typical engineering ladder has clear levels with defined expectations for scope, quality, and mentorship. Moving up usually requires owning outcomes end to end rather than completing assigned tickets.