Principal Backend Engineer

Parts Town Canada; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Quarterly profit-sharing bonus

Hybrid Work schedule

Employee assistance programs

Job summary

Parts Town Canada is looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to design and optimize scalable microservices for our eCommerce platforms. The successful candidate will leverage Node.js, TypeScript, Docker, and Kubernetes to ensure seamless integration across systems.

You will also establish CI/CD pipelines and mentor other engineers. With over 10 years of experience in backend system design, you will play a key role in achieving engineering excellence and operational best practices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in backend system design, eCommerce, and distributed applications.
• Proficiency in Node.js and TypeScript.
• Expertise in cloud platforms like AWS or Azure.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable, cloud-native microservices and ensure seamless interoperability.
• Establish CI/CD practices and automated testing standards.
• Lead disaster recovery strategies and define observability best practices.

Skills

Node.js

TypeScript

Microservices

Distributed applications

API standards (REST, GraphQL)

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Pulumi

Job description

Perks

• Parts Town Pride - check out our virtual tour and culture!
• Quarterly profit-sharing bonus
• Hybrid Work schedule
• Team member appreciation events and recognition programs
• Volunteer opportunities
• All the traditional benefits like health, dental and life insurance, RRSP/DPSP match, employee assistance programs and time away - we've got you covered.

The Job at a Glance

As a Principal Backend Engineer, you will design, architect, and optimize scalable microservices that power our eCommerce and enterprise platforms. You'll drive backend architecture and ensure seamless integration across systems like commerce, CMS, ERP, PIM, and marketing. Championing best practices in modularization, API design, and event‑driven architectures, you'll leverage Node.js, TypeScript, Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless technologies to create secure, high‑performance services.

You’ll own backend engineering policies, CI/CD pipelines, and testing automation to ensure reliable deployments. As a technical leader, you'll define logging, observability, and disaster recovery strategies, ensuring high availability. Collaboration with frontend, DevOps, and data teams will be key to optimizing system performance. Mentoring engineers and contributing to architectural decisions will be central to your role. This position is ideal for someone with extensive experience in backend design and distributed systems.

A Typical Day

• Backend Architecture: Design scalable, cloud‑native microservices and ensure seamless interoperability between platforms (eCommerce, CMS, ERP, PIM, marketing)
• Implementation & Best Practices: Leverage Node.js, TypeScript, Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless technologies to build high-performance services. Advocate for modularization, API‑first, event‑driven architectures, and domain‑driven design
• Engineering Standards: Establish CI/CD practices, automated testing, and backend tooling standards. Drive adoption of best practices for service‑to‑service communication (REST, GraphQL, gRPC)
• Operational Practices: Lead disaster recovery strategies, define observability and logging best practices, and drive automated testing strategies
• Cross‑functional Collaboration: Work with frontend, DevOps, and data teams to optimize APIs, caching, and databases.
• Mentor engineers and collaborate with other Principal Engineers to ensure engineering excellence

To Land This Opportunity

• You have strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• You have 10+ years of experience in backend system design, eCommerce, and distributed applications
• You're an expert in Node.js, TypeScript, and cloud-native platforms (Azure preferred)
• You're passionate and knowledgeable of databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis), microservices, event-driven architectures (Kafka, NATS), and API standards (REST, GraphQL)
• You possess experience with unit, integration, and contract testing (Jest, Mocha, Pact) and CI/CD (Terraform, Pulumi)
• You are familiar with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), serverless computing, Kubernetes, and containerization
• You have proven ability to mentor engineers and collaborate across teams.

Parts Town is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace where everyone can thrive. We celebrate diversity and are committed to fostering a culture of respect, belonging, and equal opportunity. Accommodation is available upon request throughout the recruitment, selection, and employment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.