Backend Engineer

About the role

You will own the core backend systems that power the entire Paraform marketplace and platform. This role is responsible for the services that handle recruiter workflows, matching logic, and payments infrastructure. You will directly influence the performance, reliability, and security of the product that thousands of users depend on daily. The systems you design will enable faster hiring decisions and more accurate talent matching across the network. You will collaborate closely with product and data teams to turn hiring requirements into robust backend solutions. This position gives you the opportunity to solve complex distributed systems problems at the heart of a modern hiring marketplace. Your work will define what is possible for the agents and humans who use Paraform to build the future of work.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Architect and maintain the core backend services that drive matching, recruiter workflows, and marketplace operations.
• Optimize Postgres schemas, queries, and indexes to ensure the platform remains performant as data volume and traffic scale.
• Design and extend service layers that deliver reliable and low-latency responses to critical user workflows.
• Build and manage integrations with external systems and third-party tools that recruiters and hiring managers use every day.
• Strengthen authentication, authorization, and data protection mechanisms to meet enterprise security standards.
• Improve observability, monitoring, and alerting to ensure rapid detection and resolution of production issues.
• Own the CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure that enable fast, safe, and repeatable deployments across the stack.
• Partner with internal AI teams to build the tooling and infrastructure that empowers every team member to use AI effectively.
• Take end-to-end ownership of features, from initial design and implementation through debugging and iterative improvement in production.
• Identify bottlenecks and technical debt, then propose and execute pragmatic fixes that balance speed and long-term maintainability.
• Collaborate with recruiters and hiring managers to translate operational requirements into resilient backend capabilities.
• Document system behavior and interfaces to ensure clarity and consistency for both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Support critical deployments and on-call rotations to keep the platform healthy and trustworthy for all users.
• Contribute to code reviews and architectural discussions that raise the bar for quality and reliability across the engineering organization.

Requirements

• You have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• You possess deep backend expertise with strong proficiency in at least one modern programming language such as Python, Go, or JavaScript.
• You have hands-on experience designing, building, and operating services that run in production at scale.
• You are fluent in SQL and NoSQL data models and understand how to optimize queries for performance and cost.
• You have a solid grasp of distributed systems concepts including consistency, fault tolerance, and scalability.
• You are experienced with containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• You have worked with cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure to build and operate resilient services.
• You understand authentication, authorization, and data security best practices for web applications.
• You are comfortable reading and contributing to legacy code while planning thoughtful improvements.
• You can communicate technical tradeoffs clearly to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• You have a track record of making pragmatic engineering decisions that prioritize impact and reliability over novelty.
• You are meticulous about testing, logging, and instrumentation to ensure systems are observable and maintainable.
• You have experience collaborating with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, product-driven environment.
• You are comfortable working in an environment where responsibilities evolve quickly and ownership is highly valued.

Nice to have

• Experience building and operating marketplace or matching systems at scale.
• Familiarity with AI tooling, agents, or plugin architectures for internal productivity.
• Contributions to open source projects or public-facing technical blogs.
• Background in FinTech, recruiting, or human capital management domains.

Practical notes

• This role is based in San Francisco and requires eligibility to work in the United States without sponsorship.
• Paraform is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes diverse candidates to join our mission of modernizing the hiring industry.