Staff Backend Software Engineer

Firework; Hong Kong; Hybrid; HKD 1,000,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Firework is seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to join our global team and help scale our video-commerce platform. You’ll design robust RESTful APIs and data models, optimize SQL queries, and lead architectural decisions that affect billions of requests daily.

You’ll partner with product managers and designers, mentor engineers, and drive improvements to engineering standards, tooling, and processes while shaping the technical direction of our backend systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field; advanced degree a plus.
• 6+ years of experience with Elixir designing and building high-performance RESTful web services.

Responsibilities

• Partner with product managers, designers, and engineering teams to translate product vision into robust technical solutions.
• Design and build scalable APIs using the Elixir Phoenix framework for core products and services.
• Architect efficient data models and write optimized SQL queries, creating high-performance indexes for large-scale workloads.
• Lead debugging and incident resolution across the stack using logging and monitoring tools.

Skills

Elixir programming

RESTful APIs

Data modeling

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science

Tools

PostgreSQL

Cassandra

Redis

GraphQL

Job description

About Firework
Join Firework - Where Innovation Meets Impact

Firework is redefining the future of commerce as an AI and video commerce company — combining cutting-edge technology, an exclusive network of enterprise brands and retailers, and a first-mover position to win the agentic commerce race.

We've built the world's most advanced and largest video commerce platform, trusted by global brands and leading retailers. But we're more than software — our compounding network effect grows stronger with every partner we add, bringing the energy of in-store experiences online and transforming how businesses engage, convert, and build lasting customer relationships at scale.

Having raised over $235M to date, led by investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and operating at global scale, we offer unparalleled opportunities to solve complex challenges and drive meaningful impact in the future of connected commerce.

If you're curious, ambitious, and energized by big ideas — Firework is the place to grow, lead, and shape what comes next. Together.

Summary
Our Engineering team is growing! We’re seeking a skilled Staff Backend Engineer to join our global team, bring technical expertise and leadership along with hands-on development of backend software development.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Partner closely with product managers, designers, and engineering teams to translate product vision into robust technical solutions
• Design and build scalable APIs using the Elixir Phoenix framework that power our core products and services
• Architect efficient data models and write optimized PostgresQL and Cassandra queries, creating high performance indexes to support large-scale data workloads
• Working with in-memory data stores, such as Redis, to improve scalability and responsiveness
• Lead complex debugging and incident resolution across the entire stack using logging and monitoring tools
• Guide and mentor engineers through thoughtful code reviews, sharing expertise and helping elevate the team’s technical capabilities
• Drive improvements to engineering standards, tooling, and processes
• Ensure coherence of all aspects of projects as an integrated system and uphold overall technical quality
• Contribute to technical strategy by identifying opportunities for new programs, products, or features by monitoring industry developments and trends
• Help define and evolve development practices, including technology choices, architectural patterns, workflows and coding standards to support a high-performing engineering organization
  
  
  
  
  

We’ll be excited if you have

• Bachelor’s degree in computer programming, computer science, or a related field; advanced degree is a plus
• 6+ years of experience with Elixir designing and building high-performance RESTful web services serving billions of requests per day
• High-level experience with SQL infrastructure and data modeling
• Comfortable with change: ability to demonstrate comfort with ambiguity, adapt quickly and be effective in new situations in a highly dynamic setting
• Data-driven but also imaginative and intuitive in coming up with ideas and solutions
• Must possess a start-up mindset: hunger to learn quickly and the ability to balance multiple priorities in a fast-paced team environment
  
  
  
  
  

A BIG PLUS if you have

• Experience with GoLang or Python
• Expertise with video streaming libraries such as FFmpeg or GStreamer
• Experience working with video/audio codecs
• Experience working with live streaming encoders and WebRTC
• Experience working with AI/ML models and applications
• Experience in building large-scale applications with Python
• Experience writing GraphQL queries and mutations
  
  
  
  
  

Locations
The role is hybrid and we are looking for candidates in China and Hong Kong. Candidates outside the location are encouraged to apply though must be willing to relocate.

Don’t hold back
We understand some candidates may see the above and not apply because they don’t meet all the qualifications. We encourage you to apply anyway; we often find talented candidates that fit many other opportunities we have and look for potential too, not just what you did in the past. As an equal employment opportunity employer, we are a diverse team that strives for an inclusive environment for all. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.