Senior Full Stack Developer

Shmoozer; West Hollywood (CA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

AI tools budget for daily development

Hybrid work — West Hollywood office 3d

Top-tier equipment

Learning & development budget

Job summary

Shmoozer is seeking a Senior Full Stack Developer to build real-time video/voice infrastructure and AI-assisted development workflows. You’ll work across a TypeScript stack (NestJS back-end to React front-end), leverage AI tooling, and shape product direction from day one.

You’ll own end-to-end features, scale systems, and contribute to architecture decisions in a pre-launch, high-velocity environment with hybrid work in West Hollywood.

Qualifications

• 5 years of professional experience shipping production web applications.
• Strong TypeScript fluency across frontend and backend.
• Deep React experience with modern patterns and performance optimization.
• Hands-on experience with NestJS or a comparable Node.js backend framework.
• Practical understanding of microservices and inter-service communication.
• Real-time communication experience (WebRTC, WebSockets, Socket.io).
• Serious, demonstrated use of AI coding tools in your daily workflow.
• Product mindset focused on user impact and quality.
• Comfort with ambiguity in an early-stage environment.

Responsibilities

• Build end-to-end features across a TypeScript stack (NestJS microservices to React UIs).
• Architect real-time voice/video infrastructure using WebRTC and Socket.io.
• Design and ship Stripe Connect payment flows for creators and platform.
• Model data with Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL (users, calls, ratings).
• Optimize performance with Redis caching and Nx monorepo organization.
• Handle media and verification flows with AWS S3.
• Collaborate with design to ship warm, human interfaces.
• Evolve AI-assisted development workflows and code review practices.
• Shape engineering culture and technical direction as we scale.

Skills

TypeScript

React

NestJS

WebRTC

Socket.io

PostgreSQL

Redis

AI tooling usage

Microservices

Real-time communication

Tools

Drizzle ORM

Nx monorepo

Stripe

AWS S3

Socket.io

Job description

About Shmoozer

We’re building something the internet has forgotten how to do: real, judgment-free human connection. Shmoozer is an on-demand platform that lets people instantly connect with real humans for a voice or video call — no advice, no pressure, no expectations. Just someone on the other end of the moment when you need it. We’re pre-launch, growing fast, and moving at AI-native speed. We’re looking for a Senior Full Stack Developer who uses modern AI tooling — Claude Code, Cursor, or whatever sharpens their edge — to ship at a pace that would have been impossible two years ago. If “AI-assisted development” still sounds like a novelty to you, this probably isn’t the right fit. If it’s already how you work, keep reading.

Why this role matters

You won’t be building another dashboard for another B2B SaaS tool. You’ll be building real-time video and voice infrastructure that connects humans to humans, 24/7. Every feature you ship directly shapes whether someone feels heard at 3am, whether a Shmoozer earns a living doing something meaningful, and whether a stranger becomes a friend. This is ground-floor engineering with AI as a force multiplier. You’ll have a real voice in architecture decisions, product direction, and how we scale — and your code will be running in production, serving real users, from day one. We expect you to leverage AI tooling aggressively to move faster, not to replace your judgment. The engineers who thrive here treat AI like a sharp collaborator: they review every line, understand every abstraction, and ship code they’re proud to own.

What you’ll do

• Build end-to-end features across our full TypeScript stack — from NestJS microservices to React 19 user experiences — using Claude Code and similar AI tools to ship at serious velocity
• Architect real-time voice and video infrastructure with WebRTC and Socket.io — call signaling, presence, availability, in-call chat, and reconnection logic
• Design and ship our Stripe Connect payment layer — creator payouts, platform fees, user billing, subscriptions, disputes, and refunds
• Model our data carefully with Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL — users, matches, calls, ratings, and everything in between
• Optimize performance at scale using Redis caching, efficient query patterns, and smart Nx monorepo organization
• Handle user-generated content flows with AWS S3 — profile media, verification, and moderation pipelines
• Collaborate with design to ship interfaces that feel warm and human, not cold and corporate
• Establish and evolve our AI-assisted development workflows — prompting patterns, code review practices, and guardrails that let the team move fast without breaking things
• Help shape our engineering culture, code review standards, and technical direction as we grow

Our stack

Backend: Node.js 20 , NestJS (microservices), TypeScript, Drizzle ORM, PostgreSQL, Redis, AWS S3, Socket.io, Stripe, Nx monorepo

Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS v4, Radix UI, TanStack Query, Zustand, React Hook Form Zod, React Router, Firebase, Socket.io Client

What we’re looking for

• 5 years of professional experience shipping production web applications
• Strong TypeScript fluency across both frontend and backend
• Deep React experience — you’re comfortable with modern patterns, state management trade-offs, and performance optimization
• Hands-on experience with NestJS or a comparable Node.js backend framework
• Practical understanding of microservices — service boundaries, inter-service communication, event-driven patterns
• Solid SQL and ORM experience — you can design schemas and write non-trivial queries
• Real-time communication experience (WebRTC, WebSockets, Socket.io, or similar)
• Serious, demonstrated use of AI coding tools in your daily workflow — Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar. You can talk specifically about how you use them, where they help, and where they don’t
• A product mindset — you care about users, not just code
• Comfort with ambiguity — we’re early-stage, things move fast, and priorities shift

Bonus points for

• Experience with video/voice infrastructure at scale (Twilio, Agora, LiveKit, or self-hosted WebRTC)
• Prior work with Stripe Connect or other marketplace payment flows
• Nx monorepo experience
• Background in consumer social, marketplace, or real-time products
• Familiarity with trust & safety systems, content moderation, or verification flows
• Experience at pre-launch or early-stage startups
• A point of view on AI-assisted development — what works, what doesn’t, and where the craft still matters

Why join us

Build something that matters. The lack of human connection is a real health crisis, and we’re building an on demand answer to it. Your work will have human impact you can measure in conversations, not conversion funnels.

Serious technical challenges. Real-time systems at scale, payment infrastructure, trust & safety, mobile-first performance, microservice architecture — this stack isn’t decorative, you’ll use every piece of it.

Room to grow into a leader. We’re small, which means you’ll have direct influence on architecture, hiring, and engineering culture. As we scale, the engineers who join now will become the technical leadership of tomorrow.

A team you’ll actually like. We’re pragmatic, kind, and allergic to performative hustle. We disagree openly, ship thoughtfully, and treat each other like adults. No 2am Slack pings, no hero culture — just focused, caring engineers building something meaningful.

Hybrid that respects your time. 3 days in our West Holly office, 750 N San Vincente Blvd, for collaboration and connection (we’re a human-connection company — we mean it), 2 days wherever you work best.

Our office is located in a WeWork space in the Pacific Design Center, with a breathtaking view of the city. In addition to our dedicated office space, employees can enjoy WeWork amenities, including free coffee. We also provide free parking passes for the Pacific Design Center parking lot.

What we offer

• Salary: $110,000 — $150,000 annually
• Learning & development budget — including paid access to the AI tools you’ll use daily (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)
• Top-tier equipment of your choice
• Hybrid flexibility — 3 days in our West Hollywood office, 2 days wherever you work best
• The chance to shape a product from pre-launch to scale, with a real voice in how we build and who we become

Shmoozer is an equal opportunity employer. We believe great engineering teams are built from people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences — and we’re actively working to build one.