Lead Backend Engineer - Remote, Scale Global Games

Gaddr; United States; Remote; USD 196,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) contributions / RRSP

Parental leave

Fully distributed remote studio across

North American time zones

Job summary

Gardens Interactive is a fully distributed game studio seeking a Lead Backend Engineer to guide a backend team, shape the architecture, and own critical systems for a global audience. You will collaborate with design, marketing, production, and leadership to deliver scalable services and reliable performance in a remote environment.

You’ll mentor engineers, review code, define roadmaps with the Technical Director, and drive high‑ownership ownership in a lean, collaborative setting across North

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional backend experience, with games/live-service development strongly preferred.
• 2+ years of experience directly managing or leading engineers.
• Strong Kotlin or Java skills and familiarity with Kubernetes, Grafana, Terraform, and load‑testing tools.
• Hands‑on experience with scaling backend systems to a global audience and the debugging, monitoring, and alerting challenges that come with it.
• Solid grasp of software architecture and design patterns, and the judgment to know when to apply them versus keep things simple.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with design, marketing, and production on a shipped or in‑development game.
• Comfortable operating with high ownership in a lean team where you wear multiple hats.
• Strong communication skills: able to explain technical trade‑offs to non‑engineers and rally a small team around a plan.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership: Manage, mentor, and grow a team of backend engineers; hire plans and interview candidates; establish processes and culture.
• Hands-on Development: Review PRs, evolve backend architecture, write production code, ensure reliability and cost control.
• Cross‑functional Collaboration: Align with game design, marketing, and production; communicate status and risks to leadership.

Skills

Backend leadership

Team management

Kotlin/Java

Kubernetes

Grafana

Terraform

Load testing

Software architecture

Cross-functional

Ownership

Communication

Tools

Kubernetes

Grafana

Terraform

Load testing

Monitoring

Job description

Gardens Interactive is a fully distributed game studio seeking a Lead Backend Engineer to guide a backend team, shape the architecture, and own critical systems for a global audience. You will collaborate with design, marketing, production, and leadership to deliver scalable services and reliable performance in a remote environment.

You’ll mentor engineers, review code, define roadmaps with the Technical Director, and drive high‑ownership ownership in a lean, collaborative setting across North