Senior Backend Software Engineer

Roku; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Snacks and fitness center access

Unlimited PTO

Work from home opportunities

Job summary

Roku is seeking a seasoned Senior Backend Engineer for the APPS team to shape large-scale, consumer-facing platform services. You will design, build, and operate highly available distributed systems used by millions of devices worldwide.

Join a collaborative environment with Product and Design, mentor engineers, lead architectural discussions, and drive features from ideation to production. You will thrive on solving complex problems at scale.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of backend/distributed systems experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, CE, or equivalent experience.
• Strong experience with cloud services (AWS/GCP).
• Hands-on with Kubernetes and infrastructure fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural discussions and design highly available, scalable distributed systems.
• Build, operate, and optimize large-scale backend services used by millions of devices.
• Collaborate with Product and Design to drive features from ideation to production; mentor engineers.
• Champion engineering excellence through reviews and hands-on development.

Skills

Java

Distributed systems

Cloud services

Observability/Monitoring

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or equivalent

Tools

AWS

Google Cloud

Kubernetes

Job description

• We are seeking a seasoned Senior Backend Engineer to join the Roku APPS team and help shape our large-scale, consumer-facing platform
• In this role, you will design, build, and operate highly available and scalable distributed services used by millions of devices worldwide
• You will collaborate closely with Product and Design teams to drive features from concept to production, mentor engineers, and influence architectural decisions across the platform
• You will have the opportunity to work on challenging distributed systems, help adopt best practices, and ensure our platform remains reliable, performant, and innovative
• As part of Roku’s broader mission to lead the streaming industry, our team drives the architecture and implementation of scalable, reliable services that support the Roku platform and enhance the way users discover and interact with content
• We thrive on solving complex technical challenges, delivering high-impact features, and shaping the future of connected entertainment
• You’ll build and own large-scale platform services used internally and by millions of devices
• Lead architectural discussions and design highly available, scalable, distributed systems
• Partner with Product and Design to deliver features from ideation through production and ongoing support
• Manage technical scope, priorities, and delivery timelines
• Champion engineering excellence through hands-on development (70%), code/design reviews, and mentorship
• Evaluate emerging technologies and drive adoption of best practices across engineering, QA, and operations

Benefits

• Medical, wellness and financial benefits
• Free snacks and access to the company fitness center
• Unlimited paid time off policy
• Work from home opportunities

This role is ideal for a self-starter who thrives on solving complex problems at scale, has a strong operational mindset, and enjoys balancing hands-on engineering with strategic impactStrong software development experience (Java preferred)Expertise in building large-scale cloud services in AWS and/or Google CloudExperience selecting appropriate data stores and analyzing performance, scalability, and consistency trade-offsBachelor’s degree in CS, CE, or equivalent experienceDeep understanding of infrastructure fundamentals (networking, compute, storage, containers) with hands-on experience troubleshooting Kubernetes clusters and distributed systems in production8+ years of experience designing, building, and operating large-scale backend and distributed systemsTrack record of monitoring deployments and diagnosing production issuesStrong understanding of end-to-end web architecture, from client devices to backend services