Associate Software Engineer

The First Labs; Mumbai; Hybrid; INR 1,800,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance ₹10 Lakh

Learning budget ₹100000

Meals & transit

MacBook Pro

Job summary

The First Labs in Mumbai is seeking an Associate Software Engineer to join our core engineering team. You will build production backend services, design scalable data models, and contribute to distributed systems.

This role combines on-site work with hybrid collaboration. You will work with Node.js, TypeScript, Go, and Python, and benefit from a fixed base salary plus performance bonuses and comprehensive health coverage.

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in data structures, graphs, hashing, and time-space complexity.
• Understanding of asynchronous models, event loop, and thread safety.
• Experience with SQL, indexing, transactions, and Redis caching.
• Familiar with HTTP/2/HTTP/3, REST, and secure auth flows.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain low-latency backend microservices.
• Design PostgreSQL and Firestore schemas.
• Build resilient distributed systems with event-driven workers.
• Implement automated tests and CI/CD with zero-downtime releases.
• Work with vector search pipelines and retrieval workflows.

Skills

Backend dev

Node.js

TypeScript

Go

Python

PostgreSQL

Firestore

Distributed systems

API design

Tools

Redis

Job description

FirstHire helps job seekers discover fresh job opportunities before the crowd.

Finding the right job shouldn't mean searching through outdated listings or discovering opportunities days after they were posted. FirstHire is built to help you discover relevant jobs while they're still fresh, so you can act faster and apply earlier.

We are hiring an Associate Software Engineer to join our core engineering team in Mumbai. In this role, you will write production backend microservices, design scalable database architectures, and build resilient distributed systems.

Compensation & Location

Fixed Base Salary (₹18–₹20 LPA)
Guaranteed annual fixed salary component with structured biannual appraisals.

Performance Bonus & Variables (₹3–₹5 LPA)
Annual performance-linked bonuses tied to feature execution, systems reliability, and engineering impact.

Work Location (Mumbai, India)
On-site / Hybrid collaboration with the core founding engineering team at our Mumbai Tech Hub.

Key Responsibilities

Backend Microservices & APIs
Design, develop, and maintain low-latency REST and async backend services using Node.js, TypeScript, Go, or Python.

Database Design & Optimization
Design relational (PostgreSQL) and document (Firestore) schemas. Optimize composite B-Tree indexes, connection pooling, and keyset pagination.

Distributed Systems & Reliability
Build resilient event-driven workers, circuit breakers, rate limiters, and idempotent API patterns for zero data loss.

Vector Search & Retrieval Pipelines
Work with 768-dimensional vector embeddings, cosine distance similarity indexing, and automated candidate-to-opportunity matching pipelines.

Automated Testing & CI/CD
Write high-coverage automated unit and integration tests, conduct peer code reviews, and ship continuous zero-downtime releases.

Requirements & Technical Depth

Computer Science Fundamentals
Strong foundation in data structures, graph algorithms, hash maps, sliding windows, and amortized time-space complexity.

Concurrency & Systems Architecture
Clear understanding of asynchronous execution models, event loop microtasks vs macrotasks, and thread-safe operations.

Databases & Caching
Practical familiarity with SQL queries, transaction isolation, indexing trade-offs, and caching strategies with Redis.

API Standards & Networking
Understanding of HTTP/2, HTTP/3, WebSockets, RESTful conventions, and secure token-based authentication flows.

Workstation Setup
Latest Apple MacBook Pro (M-Series) with dual 4K external monitor displays and accessories.

Comprehensive Health Insurance
Comprehensive medical coverage (₹10 Lakhs) covering the employee and immediate family/parents.

Learning & Conference Budget
Annual ₹1,00,000 allowance for engineering books, certifications, and technical conferences.

Meals & Transit
Daily catered gourmet meals, espresso bar, snacks, and local Mumbai commute reimbursements.

Selection Process

1. Profile & Project Evaluation
Review of code repositories, past projects, or relevant engineering problem-solving background.

2. Technical & Systems Interview
1-on-1 virtual session focused on core algorithms, system architecture, and API design trade-offs.

3. Engineering Deep-Dive
Technical discussion with senior engineers covering past implementations, database design, and practical edge cases.

4. Offer & Onboarding
Leadership alignment, compensation walkthrough, and formal offer rollout for joining our Mumbai team.