Senior Software Engineer

Ideogram; Toronto; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

A cutting-edge design technology company in Toronto is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build AI design experiences. The role requires 3+ years of experience in backend systems, focusing on collaboration and innovative problem-solving. Competitive compensation, remote flexibility, and a culture of growth are part of the offer.

Benefits

Competitive compensation and equity

4 weeks of vacation

Comprehensive health coverage

RRSP/401(k) with employer match

Top-of-the-line tools and tech

Team lunches and dinners

Fully remote flexibility

Autonomy to explore and experiment

Qualifications

• 3+ years developing and shipping large-scale backend systems.
• Experience managing complexity through scalable design.
• Track record of writing reliable code with metrics and monitoring.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with engineers to build AI design experiences.
• Shape product roadmap and influence technical direction.
• Proactively identify opportunities and suggest improvements.

Skills

Backend systems development

Data structures and algorithms

Distributed systems

API design

Database schema design

Problem-solving

Leadership

Monitoring and error handling

Tools

Python

Kubernetes

Docker

Elasticsearch

GCP

Job description

About Ideogram

Ideogram’s mission is to make world-class design accessible to everyone, multiplying human creativity. We build proprietary generative media models and AI native creative workflows, tackling unsolved challenges in graphic design. Our team includes builders with a track record of technology breakthroughs including early research in Diffusion Models, Google’s Imagen, and Imagen Video. We care about design, taste, and craft as much as research and engineering – shipping experiences that creatives actually love.

We’ve raised nearly $100M, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures. Headquartered in Toronto with a growing team in NYC, we're scaling fast, aiming to triple over the next year. We're a flat team with a culture of high ownership, collaboration, and mentorship.

Explore Ideogram 3.0, Canvas, and Character blog posts, and try Ideogram at ideogram.ai.

About The Role

We’re seeking an experienced backend engineer to join our team as a Senior Software Engineer. You’ll collaborate with exceptional engineers to build cutting‑edge AI design experiences that delight millions of users.

You’ll thrive here if you're excited about:

• Moving fast and shipping to production daily, alongside a strong, supportive team that values pragmatic engineering
• Tackling complex technical challenges collaboratively, from scaling distributed systems to enabling new generative media experiences
• Shaping our product roadmap and influencing technical direction, standards and team culture

What We’re Looking For

Technical Excellence

• 3+ years developing and shipping large-scale backend systems with proven ability to manage complexity through thoughtful abstractions and scalable design
• Strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems
• Experience designing APIs and database schemas that are extensible, performant, and account for real-world read/write workloads
• Track record of writing well-instrumented, reliable code with appropriate metrics, monitoring, and proactive error handling

Engineering Leadership & Problem Solving

• Ability to break down open-ended, technically complex problems into actionable solutions with clear milestones
• Experience scoping projects, identifying technical constraints, estimating timelines, and keeping teams on track
• Interested in raising the quality bar through mentorship and constructive code reviews

Ownership

• Deep sense of ownership - proactively identifies opportunities, suggests improvements, and acts on them
• Thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments with a strong bias toward action
• Asks great questions, thinks from first principles, and seeks out resources to deepen understanding

Our Stack

Our backend infrastructure is primarily written in Python and makes use of the following technologies (experience with them is helpful but not strictly required):

• OpenAPI & gRPC
• Kubernetes
• Redis & Memcached
• Elasticsearch
• GCP, Google Bigtable, Google BigQuery, Google Spanner, Google Pub/Sub
• Docker & Terraform
• Cloudflare

Our Culture

We’re a team of exceptionally talented, curious builders who love solving tough problems and turning bold ideas into reality. We move fast, collaborate deeply, and operate without unnecessary hierarchy, because we believe the best ideas can come from anyone.

Everyone at Ideogram rolls up their sleeves to make our products and our customers successful. We thrive on curiosity, creativity, and shared ownership. We believe that small, dedicated teams working together with trust and purpose can move faster, think bigger, and create amazing things.

Ideogram is committed to welcoming everyone – regardless of gender identity, orientation, or expression. Our mission is to create belonging and remove barriers so everyone can create boldly.

What We Offer

💸Competitive compensation and equity designed to recognize the value and impact of your contributions to Ideogram’s success.
🌴 4 weeks of vacation to recharge and explore.
🩺 Comprehensive health, vision, and dental coverage starting on day one.
💰 RRSP/401(k) with employer match up to 4% to invest in your future from the moment you join.
💻 Top-of-the-line tools and tech to fuel your creativity and productivity.
📍 Toronto HQ perks: Steps from Union Station and the PATH, with team lunches every Tuesday and dinners every Thursday.
🔍 Autonomy to explore and experiment — whether you’re testing new ideas, running large-scale experiments, or diving into research, you’ll have access to compute/resources you need when there’s a clear business or creative use case. We encourage curiosity and bold thinking.
🌱 A culture of learning and growth, where curiosity is encouraged and mentorship is part of the journey.
🏡 Fully remote flexibility across North America, with regular in-person team meetups and collaboration opportunities.