Back-end Software Engineer

Otter; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Company‑paid life and disability insurance

401(k)

Flexible Spending Accounts

Job summary

Otter is looking for a Software Engineer to join their Marketing/Boost team in Seattle. You will build an AI-powered platform that automates marketing across delivery platforms, helping restaurants succeed in food delivery.

The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in distributed systems and experience with backend languages like Java, Go, or Python. Competitive benefits include health insurance, a 401(k) plan, and discretionary vacation days.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in a general‑purpose backend language (e.g., Java, Go, or Python).
• Solid foundation in distributed systems, microservices, and API design (gRPC and/or REST).
• Experience with databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, CockroachDB) and writing performant queries.
• Strong debugging skills and an instinct for reliability in systems that integrate with unpredictable third parties.
• Experience operating services in production and a collaborative, product‑mindful approach.

Responsibilities

• Build backend services for campaign management, budgeting, and a multi‑channel pipeline.
• Develop the AI‑driven Boost engine that automates marketing.
• Integrate with third‑party delivery platforms and handle external APIs.
• Own your services end‑to‑end: develop, instrument, debug, and improve reliability and performance.

Job description

Who We Are

We created Otter to help restaurateurs succeed in online food delivery. Restaurants worldwide, from Chick‑fil‑A to Ben & Jerry’s, use our software to increase sales, reduce order issues, and cut delivery headaches.

What You’ll Do

As a Software Engineer on the Otter Marketing/Boost team, you’ll build an AI‑powered platform that automates marketing across delivery platforms. Your code will translate a merchant’s budget and goals into real orders.

• Build backend services for campaign management, budgeting, and a multi‑channel pipeline that deploys campaigns and keeps them in sync across delivery platforms.
• Develop the AI‑driven Boost engine that analyzes each store, picks the best marketing for its goal, executes within budget, and recalibrates automatically.
• Build durable workflows for campaign orchestration, budget enforcement, and auto‑pause guardrails that run correctly, every day, at scale.
• Integrate with third‑party delivery platforms and handle the realities of external APIs: partial failures, retries, and reconciliation.
• Own your services end‑to‑end: develop, instrument, debug, and improve reliability and performance.

What We’re Looking For

We value diversity of experience and are looking for engineers excited to own complex, high‑impact systems. We look for strong ownership, people ready to take their work from idea to production, and those willing to take responsibility for outcomes.

Basic Qualifications

• Proficiency in a general‑purpose backend language (e.g., Java, Go, or Python).
• Solid foundation in distributed systems, microservices, and API design (gRPC and/or REST).
• Experience with databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, CockroachDB) and writing performant queries.
• Strong debugging skills and an instinct for reliability in systems that integrate with unpredictable third parties.
• Experience operating services in production and a collaborative, product‑mindful approach.

Nice to Have

• Workflow orchestration (e.g., Temporal, Cadence) or event‑driven architectures (Kafka).
• Large‑scale data and analytics tooling (Trino, Flink, Iceberg, or equivalent).
• ML systems in production, predictions, ranking, or optimization, or a strong interest in them.
• Cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) and containers (Docker, Kubernetes).

Why join us

• Demand for online food delivery is growing rapidly; the US market expanded 10X in the past five years.
• Changing the restaurant industry: you’ll help restaurants succeed in online food delivery.
• Collaborative environment: receive support and guidance from experienced colleagues and managers while working closely with other teams.

Benefits Summary (USA Full‑Time Exempt Employees)

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (multiple plans, incl. HSA options).
• Company‑paid life and disability insurance (short‑ and long‑term).
• Voluntary insurance: accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity.
• Optional supplemental life insurance for self, spouse, and children.
• Pet insurance discount.
• 401(k).
• Health Savings Account (HSA).
• Flexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care, Commuter).
• Time Off policies:
  • Discretionary vacation days
  • 8 paid holidays per year
  • Paid sick time
  • Paid bereavement leave
  • Paid parental leave

Benefits are subject to change at the company’s discretion.

Base salary range: $167,000 – $230,000 per year. Actual compensation is determined on an individual basis and may vary with experience, skills, and qualifications. Eligible for equity awards and an annual performance‑based bonus.