Member of Technical Staff, Backend

Recruiting from Scratch; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous equity package

Relocation assistance ($20,000)

Housing bonus ($10,000, Bay Area near

Monthly meal stipend ($1,500)

Equinox membership

Job summary

Recruiting from Scratch is hiring a Member of Technical Staff, Backend, to define the long-term architecture behind our shared backend systems powering the platform. You will partner with engineering leadership to shape APIs, data models, and core services across a growing global marketplace.

You will lead architectural initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and help guide platform investments while maintaining reliability and scalability for rapid growth.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• 3+ years operating at Senior/Staff/Principal level or equivalent.
• Proven ability to own architectural direction across multiple teams.
• Track record of large-scale production migrations.
• Strong data modeling and backend infrastructure understanding.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and setting engineering standards.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture behind the shared backend systems powering the platform.
• Define long-term backend infrastructure strategy including APIs and data models.
• Design scalable, reliable systems for a global marketplace.
• Lead architectural initiatives, migrations, and modernization efforts.
• Set engineering standards and patterns adopted across product teams.
• Prototype critical infrastructure and write production-grade code.
• Lead design reviews and influence major technical decisions.
• Mentor engineers to lift overall technical quality.
• Collaborate with leadership on platform investments and long-term planning.
• Drive improvements enabling faster product delivery without sacrificing reliability.

Skills

Distributed systems

Backend architecture

API design

Mentoring engineers

Technical leadership

Tools

Cursor

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

Job description

Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company’s culture and vision. Our mission is simple: place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates. https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com/

Title of the Role: Member of Technical Staff, Backend

Company Stage of Funding: Series C AI Marketplace ($10B Valuation)

Office Type: Onsite (5 Days Per Week)

Company Description

We're representing one of the fastest-growing AI companies building the infrastructure that powers the AI economy. Their platform connects leading AI labs and enterprises with a global network of experts who generate the high-quality human intelligence required to train and evaluate frontier AI models.

As the platform continues to scale, the company is investing heavily in the shared backend infrastructure that powers every product experience across its ecosystem. They're seeking a Member of Technical Staff to define the long-term architecture behind talent matching, assessments, expert workflows, and core platform services. This is a highly influential individual contributor role focused on organization-wide technical leadership, partnering directly with engineering leadership to shape the systems and engineering standards that will support the company’s next stage of growth.

What You Will Do

• Own the architecture behind the shared backend systems that power every product across the platform.
• Define the long-term technical strategy for backend infrastructure, distributed services, APIs, and core data models.
• Design highly scalable, reliable systems capable of supporting a rapidly growing global marketplace.
• Lead organization-wide architectural initiatives, technical migrations, and infrastructure modernization efforts.
• Establish engineering standards, architectural patterns, and backend best practices adopted across multiple product teams.
• Remain hands-on by prototyping critical infrastructure, writing production code, and solving complex technical challenges.
• Lead high-impact design reviews and influence major technical decisions across the engineering organization.
• Mentor senior engineers and help elevate the overall technical quality of the engineering team.
• Partner closely with engineering and product leadership on platform investments, build-versus-buy decisions, and long-term technical planning.
• Drive architectural improvements that enable product teams to move faster while maintaining reliability and scalability.

Ideal Background

• 8+ years of professional backend software engineering experience.
• 3+ years operating at the Senior, Staff, Principal, or equivalent engineering level.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, backend architecture, service-oriented design, and scalable API development.
• Proven experience owning technical architecture across multiple engineering teams or an organization-wide platform.
• Track record of successfully leading large-scale technical migrations in production environments.
• Strong understanding of data modeling, backend infrastructure, and long-term system evolution.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and influencing engineering organizations through technical leadership rather than formal management.
• Proficiency using modern AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or similar.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical tradeoffs clearly.

Preferred

• Experience designing backend platforms supporting high-growth marketplace, SaaS, or AI products.
• Background at top-tier technology companies or rapidly scaling startups.
• Experience building shared platform infrastructure used across multiple engineering organizations.
• Strong expertise in distributed systems, service boundaries, reliability engineering, and large-scale backend migrations.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction through architectural leadership and engineering standards.
• Passion for building systems that remain maintainable and scalable over many years.
• High ownership mindset with the ability to balance technical excellence and rapid execution.
• Interest in AI infrastructure, developer productivity, and building foundational platform technology.

Compensation and Benefits

• Generous equity package vested over four years.
• $20,000 relocation assistance for candidates relocating to the Bay Area.
• $10,000 housing bonus for employees living within 0.5 miles of the office.
• $1,500 monthly meal stipend.
• Complimentary Equinox membership.
• Opportunity to define the backend architecture that powers every product across one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world.
• Organization-wide technical ownership with direct influence over engineering strategy, platform investments, and long-term architectural direction.