Backend Engineer

Luminary; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Luminary in San Mateo, CA seeks a senior backend leader to architect and build scalable backend systems and APIs. You will mentor a team of developers, drive security and reliability, and collaborate across engineering and product teams to deliver enterprise-grade SaaS solutions.

Ideal candidates have 10+ years building distributed systems, strong Kubernetes expertise, and a track record of leading high-performing teams in cloud-based environments with a focus on quality and scalability.

Qualifications

• 10+ years building highly performant, scalable distributed systems.
• Proven Kubernetes-based apps deployed in production.
• Backend developer with focus on scalable SaaS systems.
• Leadership and mentoring of developer teams.
• Cloud infrastructure and SRE practices.
• Enterprise-grade software delivery with emphasis on quality.
• Security: encryption, auth, and authorization concepts.
• Scalability solutions: load balancing, auto-scaling, caching.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and testing methods.
• Strong problem solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and develop robust, scalable backend systems and APIs.
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and foster collaboration.
• Ensure code quality, maintainability, and security in backend development.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver features and products.
• Deliver software with enterprise readiness and quality.

Skills

Backend architecture

Kubernetes

SaaS architecture

Technical leadership

Cloud infrastructure

Security practices

Performance optimization

CI/CD pipelines

Load balancing

Team mentoring

Tools

Kubernetes

GCP

CI/CD tools

Job description

Key Duties, Responsibilities, and Deliverables

• Working with a team of backend & infrastructure devs, leading by being hands on, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.
• Architect, design, and develop robust and scalable backend systems and APIs, ensuring high performance, availability, and data integrity.
• Implement and oversee best practices for code quality, maintainability, and security in backend development.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams within engineering and across the organization, to ensure the successful delivery of features and products.
• Delivering software with quality and enterprise readiness
• Lead efforts to enhance infrastructure, including containerization, orchestration, and cloud-based solutions (GCP preferred), to support our applications' growth.
• Collaborate with security experts to develop and maintain a strong security posture, implementing measures to protect against threats and vulnerabilities.
• Create and maintain documentation for system architecture, infrastructure, and security practices.
• Implement and oversee strategies for scalability and performance optimization, ensuring our systems can handle increased loads.

Expertise and Qualifications

• Have a strong 10+ years of building highly performant, scaleable, distributed systems (or equivalent experience).
• Need proven expertise building Kubernetes based applications and should have deployed and managed them in production
• Proven experience as a backend developer or software engineer, with a strong focus on designing and implementing scalable saas systems.
• Demonstrated experience in leading and mentoring a team of developers.
• Expertise in cloud infrastructure and SRE practices.
• Demonstrated delivering enterprise grade software with a focus on quality and supportability
• Strong understanding of security principles and practices, including data encryption, authentication, and authorization mechanisms.
• Experience in implementing scalability solutions, such as load balancing, auto-scaling, and caching strategies.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and testing methodologies.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.
• A passion for staying up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends in backend development, infrastructure, and security.

Background and Experience

• SaaS Platform Expertise: Proven experience in designing, developing, and scaling SaaS platforms.
• Technical Leadership: Demonstrated experience as a technical leader in previous roles, showcasing your ability to lead and mentor a team, set technical direction, and drive successful project outcomes.
• Adaptability: The capability to quickly adapt to new technologies and methodologies as the tech landscape evolves.
• Teamwork and Communication: Strong interpersonal and communication skills, enabling effective collaboration with cross-functional teams, clear articulation of technical concepts, and mentorship of junior team members.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: An entrepreneurial mindset that thrives in a dynamic, rapidly evolving environment (preferably at a startup) and is enthusiastic about driving innovation and growth.

Full-time position | San Mateo, CA (Onsite)

Note: In accordance with export control regulations, this position requires candidates to qualify as a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)). An active or obtainable U.S. security clearance (Secret or TS/SCI) is preferred. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship now or in the future for this role.

About Luminary

Luminary helps engineering companies be more competitive by getting to market faster, creating new, better products, and reducing development risk. We do this with our Physics AI platform, the fastest and easiest way to build and deploy models to understand and instantly predict physical reality with precision. Customers span industries from automotive and aerospace to leading sporting equipment providers, including Otto Aviation, Joby Aviation, Piper Aircraft, and Trek Bikes. Luminary is a Series B company and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.