Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Harvey; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Structured hybrid working arrangement

Job summary

Harvey is looking for a Backend Software Engineer in Toronto to develop the foundational platform for our legal product offerings. This role entails designing and building backend infrastructure critical for product features while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The ideal candidate will have 4+ years of backend experience, strong skills in distributed systems, and will be part of a hybrid working model, requiring 3+ days in the office each week.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of backend-focused software engineering experience.
• Experience shipping user-facing features with measurable impact.
• Familiarity with enterprise SaaS patterns is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and build foundational backend infrastructure.
• Lead development of enterprise-facing features.
• Maintain security and system reliability standards.

Skills

Backend-focused software engineering experience

Distributed systems knowledge

REST/gRPC APIs

Databases

Scalable service architectures

Attention to detail

Strong programming skills

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Role Overview

As a Backend Software Engineer at Harvey, you’ll play a pivotal role in constructing the foundation of our product platform while directly building user-facing features for some of the world’s leading law firms and enterprise customers. This team owns and operates the platform layer that enables secure, reliable, and flexible experiences for our customers including notifications, permissions and feature flag infrastructure. We also build enterprise-grade collaboration experiences for law firms.

You will design systems that not only serve as critical infrastructure for the rest of the company, but also directly impact how our users engage with Harvey’s AI-powered legal tools. This role is ideal for engineers who are excited by the opportunity to move between deep platform thinking and hands‑on product iteration.

This role is based in Toronto, Canada. We use a hybrid, 3+ days-per week in-person work model and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

What You’ll Do

• Design and build foundational backend infrastructure including authentication, permissions, feature flagging, notifications, and document management integrations
• Build and evolve Harvey’s internal product platform, accelerating development across multiple product lines and engineering teams
• Lead development of enterprise-facing features, such as secure multi‑party collaboration, cross‑organization workflows, and robust admin controls
• Maintain high standards for security, privacy, and system reliability, particularly in handling sensitive legal data
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, AI, design, and GTM teams to deliver delightful, enterprise‑ready experiences

What You Have

• 4+ years (post‑BS/MS) of backend‑focused software engineering experience on platform and/or product‑oriented teams
• Experience working across the stack to ship user‑facing features with measurable impact
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, REST/gRPC APIs, databases, and scalable service architectures
• Familiarity with or interest in enterprise SaaS patterns, such as role‑based access control (RBAC), feature flag systems, and third‑party integrations is a plus
• Strong attention to detail
• Experience building backend platforms that can support multiple product lines
• Strong programming skills and general Computer Science knowledge

What We Offer

• Be part of building something special as a founding member of our Toronto team
• Structured hybrid working arrangement: 3 days in our Toronto office, 2 days working from home

Additional Information

• Location: Toronto, Ontario (Hybrid with flexibility)
• Work eligibility: Must have valid Canadian work rights; Harvey does not currently offer visa sponsorship for this role

We are an AI company and we use AI to improve all of our processes, including in the recruitment process. Whilst we do use AI to help improve efficiency in our recruitment process, we do not rely on AI to make any automated decisions and ensure that a human reviews AI output.

Depending on your location, an Applicant Privacy Notice may apply to you. You can find all of our Applicant Privacy Notices here.

Harvey is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made by emailing [e-mail]