Senior Engineer (Platform)

Trunk Tools; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Trunk Tools is seeking a hands-on platform engineer with deep backend depth to design and evolve core services and platform infrastructure in New York. You’ll own complex systems, shape data models, and drive cross-team initiatives while leveraging AI coding agents to accelerate delivery.

This senior role emphasizes architecture, scalability, and mentorship, with a strong preference for candidates who thrive in early-stage environments and take ownership across the stack.

Qualifications

• Deep backend experience on complex systems.
• “Architect distributed backend systems and services with clear boundaries.”
• “Design asynchronous, event-driven systems using queues and workers.”
• “Mentor engineers and drive cross-team projects.”
• “Fluent with TypeScript, Python, and Go.”

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve the core backend services and platform infrastructure the rest of engineering depends on.
• Architect distributed backend systems and data models and API contracts behind them.
• Design asynchronous, event-driven systems using queues and workers.
• Integrate third-party platforms and ensure reliability at scale.
• Build self-service platform capabilities for product teams to ship without waiting on you.
• Shape data architecture across relational and document stores.
• Maintain observability with instrumentation, SLOs, and incident response.
• Raise engineering standards, share patterns, and mentor across levels.
• Own complex cross-team projects from concept through production.
• Use AI coding agents as a standard tool in development.

Skills

Backend development

Distributed systems

System architecture

TypeScript

Python

Go

AI coding agents

Code review

Tools

Terraform

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Claude Code

Job description

• You’re a platform generalist with real backend depth
• You’re happiest with genuine ownership and comfortable with the ambiguity of an early-stage company
• This is a hands-on role first: you’ll spend most of your time writing code and designing systems
• You self-manage, you work across teams, and you already lean on AI coding agents to move faster
• As the day-to-day of engineering shifts toward orchestration, design, and cross-team work, that’s increasingly where you spend your time
• Design, build, and evolve the core backend services and platform infrastructure the rest of engineering depends on
• Architect distributed backend systems and services that hold up under high traffic and data volume, and own the service boundaries, data models, and API contracts behind them
• Design asynchronous, event-driven systems using queues, workers, and messaging where they fit
• Integrate third-party platforms and services, and own the reliability challenges that come with them at scale
• Build self-service platform capabilities so product teams can ship without waiting on you
• Shape our data architecture across relational and document stores: schema design, storage choices, and the tradeoffs behind them
• Keep the platform observable and dependable through instrumentation, sensible SLOs, and steady incident response
• Raise the engineering bar by setting technical standards, sharing patterns, reviewing code, and mentoring engineers across levels
• Own complex, cross-team projects from concept through production, aligning partners and keeping the work moving without being asked
• Use AI coding agents, including tools like Claude Code, as a normal part of how you build

Startup grit: you self-manage, stay hands-on, and partner well across teamsDeep, broad backend experience on complex systems. We weigh breadth and depth over exact years, but strong candidates usually have a decade or moreYou’ve architected systems and data schemas across relational and non-relational databasesFluent with AI coding agents and use them daily to ship faster without dropping qualityFluent in TypeScript, Python, and Go, with three or four languages on your resume. Rust or similar is a plusYou’ve built robust backend services and platform infrastructureYou’ve mentored or led a small team as a player-coach, and you’d be open to doing more of that here over time.You have infrastructure and DevOps depth (Terraform, Kubernetes, CI/CD)