Principal Backend Engineer|Architect

Ludex Enterprise; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ludex Enterprise is seeking a hands-on Principal Engineer to design and scale backend systems for its consumer and enterprise products. Ideal candidates should have over 7 years of experience, particularly in Node.js and TypeScript, working in a fast-paced, startup environment.

This hybrid role requires at least one day in the Chicago office weekly.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency with Node.js and TypeScript.
• Hands-on experience with NestJS or similar frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services.
• Optimize APIs supporting consumer-facing products.
• Manage and optimize PostgreSQL databases.

Skills

Node.js

TypeScript

NestJS

PostgreSQL

AWS

Job description

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid – 1 day/week in-office)
Company: Ludex, Inc.

About Ludex

Ludex is a consumer-facing technology platform transforming the sports and trading card hobby through AI-driven scanning, data, and marketplace tools. We build products used by millions of collectors and enterprise sellers, and we move fast. If you thrive in a startup environment where ownership, velocity, and impact matter, you’ll feel at home here.

Role Overview

We are seeking a hands‑on Principal Engineer to help design, build, and scale the backend systems that power Ludex’s consumer and Enterprise products. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who enjoys building high‑performance, scalable applications, working close to the product, and operating with an entrepreneurial mindset.

You will play a critical role in architecture decisions, performance optimization, and the evolution of our platform as we scale users, data volume, and revenue.

This role requires a high level of ownership and autonomy. You will be responsible for making key backend architecture decisions and driving execution in a fast-moving startup environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services using Node.js, NestJS, and TypeScript
• Build and optimize APIs that support consumer-facing products and enterprise workflows
• Design, manage, and optimize PostgreSQL databases and data models for performance and reliability
• Work with AWS infrastructure (e.g., EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, etc.)
• Collaborate closely with frontend engineers, product, and other teams to deliver end-to-end features
• Ensure high standards for code quality, efficiency, security, and performance
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across services and databases
• Participate in architecture discussions and contribute to long‑term technical strategy
• Support deployments, monitoring, and system reliability in production environments
• Thrive in a fast‑paced startup environment, balancing speed with sound engineering judgement

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional backend engineering experience
• Strong proficiency with Node.js and TypeScript
• Hands‑on experience with NestJS or similar backend frameworks
• Deep experience working with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL
• Proven experience building and scaling consumer-facing applications
• Experience working with AWS in production environments
• Strong understanding of API design, data modeling, and system architecture
• Ability to write clean, efficient, maintainable, and well-tested code
• Strong ability to independently evaluate technical approaches and make architecture decisions in a startup environment.
• Proven experience owning backend systems end-to-end, including design, implementation, deployment, and ongoing evolution.
• Comfortable working in ambiguous, fast-moving environments with evolving requirements
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset

Nice to Have

• Experience with system monitoring, observability, and performance tuning
• Experience supporting high‑scale or data‑intensive applications
• Prior startup or high‑growth company experience
• Hybrid role: must be able to work in‑office in Chicago at least 1 day per week
• Small team, high ownership, and real influence on product direction

Why Ludex

• Build products used by millions of passionate collectors
• High-impact role with real ownership and visibility
• Opportunity to shape architecture and engineering standards
• Fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment without heavy bureaucracy