Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Online Storage)

Role overview Set technical direction for a managed database platform used by backend services and data-driven applications. The Online Storage team supports relational, key-value, distributed SQL, and caching systems, with use cases ranging from financial transactions to analytical workloads. This staff-level role focuses on making storage systems scalable, self-service, reliable, and easier to operate.

Responsibilities - Define a year-long technical roadmap and connect it to high-impact platform improvements. - Design and build a scalable datastore platform, including solutions for multi-region availability, horizontal scaling, and performance. - Develop control-plane capabilities that automate database management, migrations, disaster recovery, sharding, and tuning across a large fleet. - Partner with product, infrastructure, and reliability teams to evaluate technical needs, risks, and trade-offs. - Own operational readiness through monitoring, alerting, testing, incident playbooks, and on-call practices. - Set engineering standards, share expertise, and mentor team members.

Requirements - At least 8 years of experience designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale. - Experience with highly available distributed systems; Python or Kotlin and AWS, MySQL, Spark, or Kubernetes are relevant examples. - At least 5 years of hands-on database expertise, especially relational or distributed SQL systems such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or TiDB/Vitess. - Strong understanding of database fundamentals, including schema design, query optimization, scaling, data integrity, and access patterns. - Ability to deliver complex system changes, move between implementation details and architecture, and work through ambiguity. - Strong communication and collaboration skills; a related bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience is accepted.

Benefits and work setup - Remote-first role in the United States. The stated annual base range is $230,000–$290,000 in California, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and $204,000–$264,000 in other states. - Total compensation may include equity. Benefits include health, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, monthly spending stipends, flexible time off, and an employee stock purchase plan.