Backend Engineer, IoT Platform

Fellow; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

401k with company contribution

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Monthly fitness stipend

Summer Fridays

Parental leave

Discount on Fellow products

Job summary

Fellow, a San Francisco-based maker of kitchen tools, is hiring a Backend Engineer to build, scale, and operate our device-to-cloud backend and IoT stack. You’ll own end-to-end backend systems, collaborate with hardware, mobile, and cloud teams, and drive architectural decisions with an emphasis on security, reliability, and automation.

You’ll work in-office in San Francisco, contribute to a fast-paced product roadmap, and help deliver OTA updates, data pipelines, and analytics for internal

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience with strong fundamentals.
• Proficiency in TypeScript, Node.js, Python, and libraries such as Express.js, NestJS.
• Experience designing and operating scalable PostgreSQL systems.
• API development using REST and GraphQL.
• Hands-on IaC and CI/CD with Terraform or CloudFormation and GitHub Actions or Jenkins.
• Hands-on AWS IoT or similar IoT cloud services, including secure provisioning and OTA updates.
• Experience with AWS ECS, Lambda, S3, API Gateway, SQS for highly available architectures.
• Linux-based Docker containers in production.
• Observability programs using logs, metrics, traces, KPIs, SLIs, and SLOs.
• Strong cloud and IoT security knowledge including IAM/RBAC and PKI/TLS.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable backend services on AWS.
• Own database reliability and performance including PostgreSQL replication and indexing.
• Implement and manage AWS IoT Core and related services.
• Define and operate service KPIs, SLIs, and SLOs; build logging and alerting.
• Build internal tools and analytics for support and manufacturing teams.
• Own Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD workflows with Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Lead safe environment migrations, staged deployments, and OTA releases.
• Apply least-privilege security and manage secrets and device certificates.
• Collaborate with software, product, and QA teams to ensure smooth releases.
• Explore payment, AI, and voice-command integrations within roadmap.
• Stay current with secure IoT provisioning approaches and mitigate development risks.

Job description

About Fellow

We believe that the act of making should be meaningful and fulfilling, done with intention and precision. Fellow makes beautifully functional tools for any kitchen, designed in San Francisco and used around the world.

About Fellow

We believe that the act of making should be meaningful and fulfilling, done with intention and precision. Fellow makes beautifully functional tools for any kitchen, designed in San Francisco and used around the world.

When the simple motions of life become small moments of joy, that's Everyday Magic.

This role is based in our San Francisco, CA office and requires regular in-office presence in accordance with company policy.

Who You Are

Fellow is looking for a Backend Engineer to build, scale, and operate the backend systems and IoT infrastructure that connect our physical products to the cloud. A successful candidate will possess excellent backend engineering fundamentals paired with hands-on experience owning a connected-device fleet end to end - from secure provisioning through OTA delivery. This is a rare opportunity to own the full device-to-cloud stack for physical products used in kitchens around the world.

Reporting to the Director of Firmware and Software, you will be responsible for developing, maintaining, and optimizing our backend systems and IoT infrastructure, and will serve as the connective tissue between our hardware devices, mobile application, and cloud backend. You bring strong technical judgment, a high engineering bar, and the operational instincts to ship reliable systems. We are looking for someone who can drive technical decisions independently while remaining agile and pragmatic. You'll champion AI, automation, and new ways of working to drive the effectiveness and efficiency of our engineering team.

This is a hands-on technical role. You'll set the architectural direction for our device-to-cloud stack, and you'll also roll up your sleeves to build, ship, and operate it yourself.

What You’ll Do

• Backend Services and Architecture: Design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable backend services on AWS. Evolve ECS- and Lambda-based systems, consolidate services where appropriate, and build reliable real-time and event-driven synchronization across devices, mobile applications, and backend platforms.
• Data Management: Own database reliability and performance, including PostgreSQL replication, indexing, query optimization, capacity planning, data lifecycle and archival, and tested backup and restore procedures for databases and S3.
• IoT Service Management: Implement and manage AWS IoT Core and related services, including API Gateway, SQS, MQTT, Rules Engine, Device Shadow, secure device provisioning, certificate lifecycle management, and staged OTA delivery.
• Site Reliability, Observability, and Cost: Define and operate service KPIs, SLIs, and SLOs for latency, errors, response time, dead-letter queues, and OTA success. Build logging, metrics, tracing, alerting, and incident-response practices; reduce performance bottlenecks and cloud waste; and lead disaster-recovery planning, restore testing, and multi-region readiness.
• Tools, Analytics, and Data Intelligence: Build secure internal tools and analytics for Customer Support and manufacturing teams, deliver factory and operational data visualization, and apply automation or AI-assisted analysis to logs and service metrics.
• Infrastructure and Release Engineering: Own Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD workflows using tools such as Terraform or AWS CloudFormation and GitHub Actions or Jenkins. Lead safe environment migrations and cutovers, automated QA gates, feature-based release practices, staged deployments, rollbacks, and coordinated OTA releases.
• Security and Access Management: Apply least-privilege IAM and RBAC, restrict production access, manage secrets and device certificates, secure OTA and factory-provisioning workflows, and establish auditable support and debugging paths without exposing administrative cloud access.
• Collaboration: Work closely with the software development, product management, and QA teams to ensure that the entire development and release process is smooth and efficient.
• Product and Ecosystem Integrations: Explore and deliver payment and commerce integrations, AI agents and voice commands, voice-assistant ecosystems, and secure remote device diagnostics when they support the product roadmap.
• Stay current with the latest architectural approaches in secure IoT device provisioning and management for consumer hardware. Provide ongoing recommendations to evolve system designs.
• Identify potential risks in software development and create strategies to mitigate them, ensuring the safety and efficacy of our appliances.

Qualifications

• Bachelor\'s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in backend engineering, with proficiency in TypeScript, Node.js, Python, and libraries such as Express.js, NestJS, React, or Next.js.
• Experience designing and operating scalable PostgreSQL systems, including replication, indexing, query tuning, capacity planning, and data lifecycle or archival strategies.
• API Development using REST and GraphQL
• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD using Terraform or AWS CloudFormation and GitHub Actions or Jenkins, including automated testing, environment promotion, staged rollout, rollback, and release-branching strategies.
• Hands-on experience with AWS IoT or similar IoT cloud services, including MQTT, device management, secure provisioning, certificate lifecycle management, staged OTA updates, and secure communication protocols.
• Experience designing highly available, scalable AWS architectures using services such as ECS, Lambda, S3, API Gateway, and SQS, including backup and restore testing, disaster recovery, and multi-region readiness.
• Experience operating Linux-based Docker containers in production environments.
• Experience defining and operating observability programs using logs, metrics, traces, service KPIs, SLIs, and SLOs, alerting, and incident response.
• Strong understanding of cloud and IoT security, including IAM/RBAC, least-privilege production access, PKI/TLS, secrets management, and device certificate lifecycle.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with real-time or event-driven architectures and synchronization across cloud services, mobile applications, and connected devices.
• Experience with cloud cost management and FinOps practices, including cost monitoring, rightsizing, capacity planning, and ongoing optimization.
• Experience applying AI to operational data, such as log and metrics analysis, and familiarity with Retrieval-Augmented Generation, LangChain, or agentic workflows.
• Experience with factory provisioning or manufacturing systems, including pre-authentication, certificate injection, hardware validation, and manufacturing-data visualization.
• Experience with e-commerce or payment integrations such as Shopify and with third-party device ecosystems such as Alexa, Google Home/Nest, or Siri.
• Experience with multi-region or multi-cloud migrations, including global or China-region cloud environments.
• Familiarity with secure remote device debugging and log collection using controlled tunnels or SSH, plus hardware interfaces and firmware flashing workflows.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• A creative, fast-moving environment where ideas turn into action
• Competitive compensation including employee bonus and equity plan
• Generous paid time off plan
• 401k with company contribution after 6 months of employment
• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Better Yourself Wellness credit & Better Your Community donation matching
• Monthly Fitness Stipend
• Summer Fridays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous discount on Fellow products
• Best coffee anywhere

The salary range for this position is $200,000 - $230,000 plus bonus & equity. We intentionally publish salary ranges to promote transparency and set clear expectations. Final compensation is determined based on a number of factors, including relevant experience, skills, expertise, scope of previous work, demonstrated impact, and internal equity. As a result, not every candidate will be hired at the top of the range.

Our highest goal at Fellow is creating a safe, inclusive, and rewarding environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and thrive. We are committed to building diverse teams and strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.

Fellow is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.