Principal Backend Engineer (Music Discovery Platform)

TL;DR

Principal Backend Engineer (Music Discovery Platform): Architect and develop scalable, high-performance backend systems powering music metadata management and discovery with an accent on APIs, data models, and integrations with third-party providers. Focus on optimizing performance, implementing observability tools, and leading engineering efforts including code reviews and mentoring.

Location: 100% Remote, must be available for meetings and team interaction during typical continental US business hours. Willing to travel up to 5% domestically and internationally.

Salary: $125,250 - $183,700

Company

Global leader in audio technology platforms for automotive, lifestyle, and digital transformation solutions under brands like JBL and hirify.global/Kardon.

What you will do

• Architect and develop robust, scalable APIs for music catalog, recommendation, and search.
• Design data models and manage integrations with third-party music metadata providers, streaming services, and analytics platforms.
• Lead backend engineering efforts, set coding standards, review code, and mentor junior engineers.
• Collaborate with product, frontend, and data teams to define API contracts and deliver seamless user experiences.
• Optimize performance of backend services for low latency and high availability.
• Implement observability tools for monitoring, logging, and alerting.
• Drive technical innovation by evaluating new technologies and frameworks.

Requirements

• 10+ years of backend services development
• Strong proficiency in Node.js, Python, or Go.
• Deep understanding of API design, microservices architecture, and cloud-native development.
• Hands-on experience with GCP, AWS, and Azure.
• Expertise with Docker, Kubernetes, and Serverless architectures.
• Proficient with CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, BigQuery), caching strategies, and message queues (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ).

Nice to have

• Experience with machine learning pipelines or recommendation engines.
• Experience working with machine learning workloads in production.
• Experience with audio music streaming services.
• Knowledge of music theory, audio fingerprinting, or digital signal processing.
• Familiarity with C# and .NET.
• Contributions to open-source projects or technical blogs.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive wellness benefits and 401K Retirement Savings plan with employer match.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision plans, Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Paid vacation, holidays, sick leave, volunteer leave, bonding and caregiver leave.
• Flexible work schedule promoting work-life integration.
• Professional development through hirify.global University courses and tuition reimbursement.
• Employee discounts on hirify.global products and recognition programs.