Senior Backend Software Engineer

MoldStud; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

MoldStud is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer who is language agnostic and thrives on hard technical challenges. You will design, build, and scale mission-critical systems under real load, with 85% PHP (Laravel) and 15% Python, and you’ll own significant parts of the platform.

You bring 7+ years of experience in distributed systems, high-load architectures, microservices, and database optimization for large datasets, and you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams in an agile environment to

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience as a backend engineer.
• Proven experience building large-scale distributed web applications.
• Strong back-end development with API architecture.
• Database optimization for big data and fast responses.
• Hands-on cloud experience (AWS/Azure/GCP).

Responsibilities

• Engineer highly available, scalable, real-time software systems.
• Lead the software development lifecycle from requirements gathering to deployment.
• Ensure timely and high-quality delivery of software products.
• Drive a best-in-class user experience through the systems under your responsibility.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in agile projects.
• Collaborate with front-end engineers to fine-tune REST APIs.
• Work with research teams to integrate ML models and other algorithms.
• Partner with DevOps to ensure scalable, secure production environments.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices in coding and architecture.

Skills

Backend engineering

Distributed systems

API architecture

Database optimization

Cloud platforms

Big O notation

Leadership

Mentoring

Tools

Laravel

PHP

REST APIs

Elasticsearch

AWS

Azure

GCP

Machine learning integration

Job description

We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who is language agnostic and enjoys hard technical challenges. You will help design, build, and scale mission-critical systems that carry real load, so we care more about how you think about distributed systems than which language you started in. The day-to-day is roughly 85% PHP (Laravel) and 15% Python, and you should be comfortable moving between them. You bring 7+ years of experience and strong depth in distributed systems, high-load architectures, microservices, and database optimization for large datasets. You will own significant parts of the platform and work closely with cross-functional teams to ship secure, reliable software in an agile setup.

Critical Requirements

• High-load systems: you have run production systems under real, sustained load, and you can walk us through the specific trade-offs you made to keep them stable under pressure.
• Real distributed systems: you have built and operated distributed systems in production, not studied them. You can describe the failures you hit and exactly how you handled them.
• Microservice architecture, hands-on: you have designed and run a real microservice setup where you deal with these problems daily. How you manage the event queue, how you keep several services in sync, how you decide when one database serves multiple services and how you live with that decision, and so on.

Responsibilities

• Engineer highly available, scalable, real-time software systems.
• Lead the software development life cycle from requirements gathering, development, and testing to deployment.
• Ensure timely and high-quality delivery of software products.
• Drive a best-in-class user experience through the systems under your responsibility.
• Partner with technology, design, product, support, and marketing teams in agile cross-functional projects.
• Collaborate with front-end engineers to fine-tune REST APIs.
• Work with research teams to integrate machine learning models and other advanced algorithms.
• Partner with DevOps to ensure a scalable, secure, and resilient production environment.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices in coding and architecture.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience as Software Backend Engineer.
• Proven experience building large-scale distributed web applications.
• Strong back-end development expertise, especially in API architecture and implementation.
• Database optimization for big data, including query structuring for high-speed responses.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Deep understanding of algorithm complexity and Big O notation.

Core Competencies

• Architecture & Design: Skilled in designing and reviewing complex system architectures across services.
• Technical Leadership: Leads projects, mentors peers, and drives technical excellence.
• Advanced Problem-Solving: Resolves complex, ambiguous engineering challenges.
• Code Quality & Testing: Produces reliable, test-driven code and shapes testing strategy.
• Technical Influence: Guides decision-making with clarity and technical credibility.
• Knowledge Sharing: Documents and communicates best practices, patterns, and decisions.

Nice to Have

• Hands-on experience with PHP.
• Experience building with Laravel.
• Worked with Elasticsearch in production.
• Background in e-commerce.

Architecture & Design: Skilled in designing and reviewing complex system architectures across services., Technical Leadership: Leads projects, mentors peers, and drives technical excellence., Advanced Problem-Solving: Resolves complex, ambiguous engineering challenges., Code Quality & Testing: Produces reliable, test-driven code and shapes testing strategy., Technical Influence: Guides decision-making with clarity and technical credibility., Knowledge Sharing: Documents and communicates best practices, patterns, and decisions.