Senior Software Engineer - Backend

Vizcom; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 195,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading design technology company in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for Backend (Systems / Infrastructure). You will architect and deliver backend systems to maintain scalability as demand grows. This role involves optimizing APIs, managing GPU workloads, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Ideal candidates have 5-8 years of experience with TypeScript/Node, strong skills in performance tuning and distributed systems. This position offers a competitive salary and equity options.

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of experience in building production web systems.
• Strong background in databases and performance tuning.
• Experience with distributed systems and orchestration environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable APIs.
• Profile and optimize slow paths.
• Collaborate with AI engineers for integration.
• Mentor teammates on backend architecture.

Skills

TypeScript/Node experience

Backend architecture

Performance tuning

Distributed systems

Kubernetes

Observability tools

Tools

GitHub Actions

PostgreSQL

Redis

WebSocket

Job description

Why Vizcom

Our mission is to reshape design by streamlining the path from concept to creation, bringing more impactful ideas into the physical world.

We’re well-funded (Series B $51m to date), growing double-digits MoM, and expanding the core engineering team in SF. The surface area is big: realtime collaboration, GPU inference at scale, a modern TypeScript stack, and serving real enterprise

The Role

As the Senior Software Engineer – Backend (Systems / Infrastructure) you’ll architect and deliver backend systems that keep Vizcom fast, reliable, and scalable as our workload and customer base grow. You’ll work on everything from queueing GPU workloads to optimizing GraphQL resolvers and streaming realtime events. You’ll have deep ownership over APIs, performance, and data integrity — while collaborating with frontend and AI teams to enable magical experiences. Within your first 90 days you will: ship one critical backend feature (e.g., model queue, caching layer, or realtime service), reduce p95 latency in one major API path by ~30%, Author one technical RFC proposing an improvement to architecture or reliability, Implement or document one observability improvement (metrics, traces, alerts).

Compensation
$195k - $225,000K + Offers Equity

What You’ll Do

• Design and implement scalable APIs in TypeScript/Node with GraphQL and Postgres

• Profile and optimize slow paths — queries, resolvers, and I/O

• Build and operate distributed systems: job queues, streaming, caching, and observability

• Collaborate with AI engineers to integrate GPU inference pipelines into user workflows

• Improve reliability: lead incident reviews, strengthen CI/CD and deployment flows

• Mentor teammates on backend architecture, testing, and performance thinking

The Problems You’ll Tackle

• Distributed GPU inference and queueing with bursty workloads.

• Realtime synchronization with WebSocket and CRDT-based collaboration.

• GraphQL performance: caching, batching, resolver optimization.

• Secure multi-tenant data boundaries and enterprise integrations (SSO/SAML/SCIM).

Our Stack (today)

• Frontend: TypeScript, React, Vite, WebGL; realtime collaboration.

• API/Backend: TypeScript/Node, GraphQL (PostGraphile), Postgres, Redis, background workers.

• Infra: Kubernetes, Pulumi, CI/CD with GitHub Actions, Datadog for observability, feature flags.

• Security/Enterprise: SSO/SAML (WorkOS), SOC 2-minded practices.

Experience with every item above is not required. What matters is that you are excited to shape it.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years building production web systems (TypeScript/Node or similar)

• Strength in databases, performance tuning, and distributed systems

• Experience operating Kubernetes or similar orchestration environments.

• Fluency with observability tools and debugging live systems.

• Bonus: GPU workloads, background job systems, or realtime architectures.

How We Work

• Small team, high ownership. Fewer people, more leverage.

• Design-centric. We obsess over speed and feel; “fast enough” usually is not.

• Write it down. RFCs, crisp decisions, living docs.

• Operate what you build. Everyone takes on-call support; incidents drive improvement, not blame.

Interview Process

• Intro (30m): mutual fit, role and impact.

• Architectural deep-dive (45m): product and design collaboration.

• Coding Session (45m):

• Onsite Interview (half day)

• References and offer.

Ready to Build?

If you want your work to be used daily by world-class designers and you like owning problems end to end, let’s talk. Apply with links (GitHub, LinkedIn, notable projects) and a short note on something hard you shipped.