Software Engineer

Porter; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Porter in Bengaluru is building the operating system for intra-city logistics in India. As an SDE 3, you will own and build large, business-critical systems, design scalable architectures, and mentor engineers while collaborating with product and business stakeholders.

You are expected to think from first principles, leverage AI responsibly, and build systems that are reliable, observable, and cost-aware.

Qualifications

• Strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms and object-oriented design.
• Hands-on system design experience at scale.
• Experience with modern backend stacks, distributed systems and cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and own scalable, high-availability distributed systems handling millions of transactions.
• Drive low-level and high-level design including APIs, data models and service architectures.
• Own end-to-end delivery from design to production and maintenance, with high.autonomy.

Skills

Data structures

Algorithms

OO design

System design

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Monitoring & reliability

Performance tuning

Leadership mindset

Job description

Porter is building the operating system for intra-city logistics in India. With ~20 million orders per month, 500K+ daily-active drivers, and rapid scale ahead (1.5x growth expected next year), we solve complex real-world problems at massive scale, balancing speed, reliability, and cost efficiency in a highly operational environment.

Role Overview

As an SDE 3 at Porter, you will own and build large, business-critical systems operating at scale. This role goes beyond codingyou'll design scalable architectures, make thoughtful trade-offs, influence engineering standards, and mentor other engineers while working closely with product and business stakeholders.

You are expected to think from first principles, leverage AI responsibly, and build systems that are reliable, observable, and cost-aware.

Key Responsibilities

Technical & System Design

• Design, build, and own scalable, high-availability distributed systems handling millions of transactions.
• Drive Low-Level and High-Level Design, including APIs, data models, and service architectures.
• Perform capacity planning, back-of-the-envelope calculations, and identify system bottlenecks early.
• Ensure engineering excellence across reliability, observability, security, and cost optimization.

Coding & Execution

• Write clean, maintainable, and testable production-grade code.
• Apply SOLID principles, design patterns, and sound engineering practices.
• Use AI tools to accelerate development while critically evaluating outputsknowing when to use AI and when not to.

Ownership & Delivery

• Own end-to-end delivery of systemsfrom design to production and long-term maintenance.
• Drive projects with high autonomy, handle ambiguity, and deliver under tight timelines.
• Participate actively in operational reviews, incident management, and system improvements.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Data, and Business teams to balance tech decisions with real-world logistics constraints.
• Mentor junior engineers, influence code quality, and help raise the engineering bar.
• Contribute to hiring, technical interviews, and culture-building initiatives.

What We're Looking For

Experience

• 4+ years of software development experience (SDE 3 or equivalent role).
• Proven experience owning and scaling production systems.
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-ownership environments (startups or scale-ups preferred).

Technical Skills

• Strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented design.
• Hands-on experience with system design at scale.
• Familiarity with modern backend stacks, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of engineering operations: monitoring, alerting, reliability, and performance tuning.

AI & First-Principles Thinking

• Ability to use AI as a productivity tool, not a crutch.
• Strong judgment to validate AI-generated outputs and reason independently.
• Comfortable breaking down complex problems to fundamentals rather than pattern-matching solutions.

Leadership & Mindset

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability (Own It).
• User-first thinking with an understanding of business impact (User Obsession).
• Bias for action and execution in ambiguous situations (Keep Moving).
• Collaborative, empathetic, and resilient under pressure.
• Desire to raise the bar for talent, quality, and execution.

Why Join Porter?

• Build systems that operate at massive real-world scale.
• Solve unique logistics and operational challenges.
• Work in a culture that values ownership, frugality, speed, and impact.
• Significant scope to grow beyond SDE 3 into technical or leadership paths.