Software Engineer, Foundations

Role overview

A senior backend engineer is needed to join a Foundations team that builds the application-level infrastructure powering a collaborative web-based notebook and app authoring platform. The role centers on backend architecture and shared infrastructure—designing durable systems for APIs, realtime communication, data access, and job orchestration that other engineering teams rely on. The work is primarily backend-focused, with an emphasis on raising quality and architectural standards across the company.

Responsibilities

- Design, build, and evolve backend frameworks and services consumed across multiple product teams - Own critical shared systems spanning APIs, realtime transport, and job orchestration - Improve reliability, performance, observability, and security of foundational infrastructure - Partner with product engineers to convert recurring needs into reusable abstractions - Lead technical design discussions and help set architectural direction - Drive refactors, migrations, and upgrades that reduce long-term complexity - Improve internal tooling that supports debugging, operations, and customer-facing workflows - Mentor engineers and uphold strong engineering standards

Requirements

- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong backend focus - Hands-on experience with TypeScript/Node.js and SQL - Track record building and maintaining shared backend systems or frameworks used by multiple teams - Solid grasp of API design, distributed systems, and asynchronous workflows - Experience with relational databases and data modeling at scale - Familiarity with background job systems, queues, or workflow orchestration tools - Comfort operating and evolving production systems over time - Cloud experience (AWS preferred) - Strong communication and a collaborative, leverage-oriented mindset

Nice to have

- Python experience - Hands-on work with GraphQL, WebSockets, BullMQ, or Temporal - Familiarity with observability tooling (metrics, tracing, logging) - Background in data platforms, developer tools, or collaborative systems - Frontend experience (React, TypeScript) for end-to-end context - Open-source contributions, especially in backend or infrastructure projects

Benefits and work setup

- Salary range: $198,750 - $265,000, with placement influenced by experience, demonstrated skills, location, and internal parity - Market-benched compensation and equity - Comprehensive health benefits - Flexible paid time off