Distributed Systems Engineer, MQTT and Platform - orionsleep

OpenTalent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Orion is seeking a Distributed Systems Engineer for an on-site role in San Francisco to scale infrastructure and own major architecture decisions. You will help build the platform that supports product features, applying generalist software engineering skills to scale from 0 to 1.

The successful candidate will work on MQTT-based messaging and platform-level systems, delivering robust, scalable architecture in a fast-paced startup environment with zero-bureaucracy culture.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and operating distributed systems.
• Hands-on work with MQTT messaging and scalability challenges.
• Ability to contribute to platform-level architecture decisions.

Responsibilities

• Scale infrastructure and own major architecture decisions.
• Build and evolve the platform that powers product features.
• Work as a generalist software engineer addressing 0-1 scale challenges.

Skills

Distributed systems

MQTT

Platform

Scalability

Job description

What to expect

This is a full-time on-site role located in San Francisco for a Distributed Systems Engineer, MQTT and Platform. You will be responsible for scaling our infrastructure, owning major architecture decisions, and building the platform on which product features are built. If you are a generalist software engineer that has experience scaling out of 0-1 systems, this role is for you.

About Orion

Orion is a personalized smart mattress cover that tracks your sleep and uses AI to cool and heat your body to the perfect core body temperature cycle. The mattress cover has embedded sensors that track biological signals such as heart rate and breath rate, turning that into advanced sleep insights without the need of a wearable.

Who We Are

Orion is led by repeat founders with multiple 9 and 10-figure exits in consumer products and health-tech. The team has a combination of technical, marketing, product, operational, manufacturing, and sleep science expertise. The founding team has previously built and sold businesses that currently exceed $2 billion in value, are doing over $700 million in revenue, and have over 25 million users.

Culture

Orion is a zero-bureaucracy move-fast culture. Everyone on the team is hired and empowered to have complete ownership over their area of expertise. We would rather hire someone with strong opinions rather than no opinions. Our software engineering team writes almost 0 code by hand and leans heavy on agentic AI tools.

Summary

We don't spend time writing a bulleted list of expectations we are looking for in a candidate.

We hire people, not roles.

(competitive

compensation

, healthcare, and full