Founding Backend Engineer

Fuku; New York (NY); On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary + founding equity

Health, vision, life insurance

401(k) with company matching

Free daily lunches, snacks, Ubers

Job summary

Phia is seeking a Founding Backend Engineer to own and scale our data infrastructure powering search, personalization, and recommendations. You will architect backend systems and pipelines, collaborating with the CTO and ML engineers on product direction from day one within an early-stage team.

This founding role offers significant ownership, in-person work in New York City, relocation support, and the chance to build high-performance systems for a fast-growing social shopping platform, while

Qualifications

• 3+ years backend engineering experience.
• Proficiency in Python and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP).
• Hands-on data pipelines and microservices architectures.

Responsibilities

• Architect backend systems for the recommendation engine and shopping experience.
• Design and maintain data pipelines for large-scale datasets.
• Build reusable APIs and microservices for core features.
• Integrate ML models into production with the ML team.
• Ensure reliability, scalability, and maintainability of the backend stack.
• Define and enforce backend engineering standards and best practices.

Skills

Python

AWS/GCP

Data pipelines

Microservices

Airflow

gRPC

GraphQL

Search tech

Vector DBs

System design

Tools

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch

HNSW

ANN frameworks

Ray

Dask

Kubernetes

Job description

Founding Backend Engineer

Company Overview

Client is a fast-growing social shopping platform co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni. The platform currently serves over 350,000 users and boasts a 90% retention rate. Phia combines community, personalization, and AI-driven recommendations to revolutionize online shopping. Backed by early investors, Phia offers the opportunity to join a small, mission-driven founding team and help shape the future of social commerce.

Key Job Information

• Location: San Francisco or New York City (must relocate to NYC within a few months)
• Work Type: In-person, full-time
• Experience Required: 3+ years
• Salary Range: $160,000 – $200,000 per year
• Visa Sponsorship: H-1B, O-1, OPT

Role Summary

As the Founding Backend Engineer, you will own and scale Client's data infrastructure, which powers search, personalization, and recommendations. You will work closely with the CTO and ML engineers to design robust pipelines, architect backend systems, and establish best practices for backend engineering. This is a founding-level opportunity with significant product and technical ownership.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement backend systems for Client's recommendation engine and shopping experience.
• Design and maintain data pipelines for ingesting and processing large-scale datasets from multiple sources.
• Build reusable APIs and microservices for core product features.
• Integrate machine learning models into production in collaboration with the ML team.
• Ensure system reliability, scalability, and maintainability across the backend stack.
• Define and enforce backend engineering standards and technical best practices.

Requirements

• Minimum of 3+ years of backend engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP).
• Hands-on experience building data pipelines and microservices architectures.
• Familiarity with Airflow, gRPC, GraphQL.
• Deep understanding of search and vector database technologies, including:
  • HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World)
  • OpenSearch / Elasticsearch
  • Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) frameworks
• Excellent system design and problem-solving skills.
• Must be willing to work in-person in New York City (relocation support provided).

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary plus founding equity package.
• Comprehensive health, vision, and life insurance.
• 401(k) with company matching.
• Free daily lunches, snacks, and late-night Ubers.
• Opportunity to work directly with founders and early team members, shaping product and technical direction.

Interview Process

1. Intro Chat with Head of Recruiting
2. Technical Interview / Intro Chat
3. Coding Interview
4. CTO Interview
5. Onsite Interview (technical + cultural)
6. Offer Extended
7. Hired

Green Flags (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience at large tech companies (Meta, Google, Pinterest, etc.) and scrappy startups.
• Familiarity with Ray, Dask, and Kubernetes.
• Background in machine learning or handling large datasets.
• Proven ability to establish technical best practices and standards.
• Passion for building reliable, high-performance systems that drive business impact.

Red Flags (Disqualifiers)

• Only worked at large tech companies (Meta, Google, etc.) with no startup experience.
• Frequent job hopping (tenures less than 6 months).
• Primarily management or non-hands-on engineering roles.
• Unwilling to relocate to New York City within a reasonable timeframe.

Ideal Companies

• Apple
• Meta
• Amazon
• Pinterest
• Google
• Robinhood
• Ramp
• Uber
• Lyft
• DoorDash
• Spotify