Staff Software Engineer (Backend)

TL;DR

Staff Software Engineer (Backend): Designing and operating critical, high-scale services for hirify.globalchat's creator ecosystem with an accent on distributed systems, persistence layers, and identity services. Focus on building scalable microservices, ensuring operational excellence, and leveraging AI tools to maintain high standards of code quality and performance.

Location: Must be based in or able to work onsite in Palo Alto or Santa Monica, CA (4+ days per week)

Salary: $195,000–$343,000 (depending on pay zone)

Company

A technology company dedicated to improving human communication and expression through visual messaging and innovative digital services.

What you will do

• Design and operate critical services including user identity, friend graph, and core persistence layers.
• Collaborate across teams to evaluate product requirements and deliver scalable technical solutions.
• Advocate for best practices in availability, scalability, and cost management.
• Utilize AI tools to streamline development while auditing output for architectural integrity and security.
• Lead technical direction for complex engineering projects and distributed systems.
• Own the full lifecycle of high-scale services from design through implementation and on-call ownership.

Requirements

• Must be able to work onsite 4+ days per week in Palo Alto or Santa Monica.
• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• 9+ years of software development experience (or 8+ years with Master's, 5+ years with PhD).
• 1+ years of experience in technical leadership or domain-expert roles.
• Proven track record of operating highly-available systems at significant scale.
• Proficiency in leveraging AI tools for development with critical judgment for security and performance.

Nice to have

• Experience with Java, C++, or Go.
• Experience with NoSQL solutions, Memcache/Redis, Kubernetes, or cloud services (AWS/Google).

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive medical coverage and emotional/mental health support.
• Paid parental leave.
• Compensation packages including equity in the form of RSUs.
• Collaborative environment focused on privacy and high-velocity engineering.