Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Grindr; Chicago, Northern (IL, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) with match

Equity for employees

Gender-affirming care

Job summary

Grindr is seeking a senior backend engineer to own pivotal services in our microservices architecture. You will collaborate with product, design, and engineering teams to shape feature design and delivery while optimizing performance in a cloud-first environment.

You’ll be responsible for reliability, cost optimization, and incident response, with a focus on high-load API systems and data processing. This hybrid role is based in Chicago, with in-office Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience as a Software Engineer on backend systems and APIs.
• Experience designing API systems for high load and data consistency in microservices.
• Cloud-oriented design using AWS and distributed systems.
• Strong emphasis on testing and correctness of AI-assisted workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own design and development of key backend services in Grindr's microservices.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers to refine features.
• Optimize services using Redis, Postgres, and Kafka on AWS.
• Ensure reliability, cost efficiency, and incident response for owned services.

Skills

Backend development

API design

AWS

Kafka

Java/Kotlin/Scala

Testing

Concurrency concepts

Tools

Redis

Postgres

Kafka

AWS

Job description

About the Team:

Grindr is an AI-native platform powering how millions of gay people connect globally. With 15M+ monthly users, 130B+ annual messages, and a team of fewer than 200, we move fast, stay lean, and tackle technical problems at a scale few companies ever see.

Our mission is to increase real-people retention by building a safer, more authentic community through proactive harm prevention, strong identity trust, and empowering users to own their safety experience, while seamlessly meeting evolving regulatory expectations. Ecosystem Health touches every part of the app, so you'll work across a wide range of systems, from internal tooling to product features to core areas like authentication, rather than being confined to a single surface like the Right Now team, where your whole world is Right Now.

At Grindr, we operate in Grindr Mode. Moderately hardcore day to day, truly hardcore when it counts. It’s about doing great work without burning out. Outcomes over outputs. Smart, driven people who raise your bar, with room to live full lives.

This is a hybrid role based in our Chicago offices and will require you to be in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

About the Job:

• Own the design and development of key backend services within Grindr's microservices architecture
• Work with Product Managers, Designers, and other Engineers to refine feature design and functionality
• Optimize the services you own using tools like Redis, Postgres, and Kafka on AWS
• Make data-driven recommendations on technology and architecture choices for the systems you support
• Own reliability and availability for your services, playing a key role in optimizations, cost reduction, and incident response

Role Requirements:

• 6+ years of experience as a Software Engineer working on backend systems (service APIs, data processing, messaging services)
• Experience designing and implementing API systems for high load and data consistency in a microservice-based architecture
• Experience designing systems that make heavy and efficient use of cloud services, AWS preferred
• Passionate about testing software and systems
• Deep understanding of concurrency concepts and trade-offs
• You love figuring things out and understanding how systems work end to end
• Experience with the JVM and at least one JVM language such as Java, Kotlin, or Scala
• Applies advanced prompting techniques for complex tasks, critically audits AI outputs for accuracy, and shares AI workflows with the team

You May Thrive in this Role if You:

• Have experience developing production systems using Kotlin and Kafka
• Enjoy mentoring and skilling up less experienced developers
• Have experience designing and productionizing large-scale distributed systems

Benefits and Perks:

• Health, Dental & Vision Full premium coverage for you. Partial coverage for dependents.
• Family Formation Up to $300,000 in fertility and family-building support, covering IVF, surrogacy, egg freezing, and adoption.
• Retirement: 401(k) with 6% match and immediate vesting.
• Compensation: Industry-competitive compensation, company bonus, and equity for every employee.
• Gender-Affirming Care : Industry-leading gender-affirming offerings with up to 90% cost coverage, access to Included Health, monthly stipends for HRT, and more.
• Time Off & Rest Flexible vacation policy. Two company-wide rest weeks per year.
• Other Benefits: Monthly stipends for cell phone, internet, wellness, food, and commuting, breakfast/lunch

About Grindr:

Grindr is building the Global Gayborhood in your Pocket. With more than 15 million monthly active users, Grindr has become a fundamental part of the gay community and is charting a path to make the world more free, equal, and just.

As a public company, we're moving into the next chapter: becoming an AI-native organization that's redefining what's possible for our community. We're embedding AI into our product and operations, moving with startup speed while operating at scale.

Everything we do is rooted in impact for our users and outcomes for the business. This isn't social work, it’s impact through excellence. Business success is what gives us the power to serve our community and the seat at tables others can't reach. How we work is defined by Grindr Mode, our operating model that's moderately hardcore day-to-day and truly hardcore when it counts. We think like owners, drive real outcomes, create clarity through action, and push each other to go further than we thought possible.

We’re headquartered in West Hollywood with offices in the Bay Area, Chicago, and New York. Our work extends beyond the product through Grindr for Equality, our social impact initiative that's partnered with 100+ community organizations globally to advance safety, health, and human rights for LGBTQ+ people worldwide.

We're profitable, growing, and building a team of smart, driven people who bring different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the work. Want to build technology at a massive scale that serves millions? Come join us!

Grindr is an equal-opportunity employer.

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