Senior Staff Backend Architect: GraphQL & API Platform

Worky; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Flexible time off

Volunteer time off

401(k) match

Tuition reimbursement

Financial planning sessions

Student debt retirement savings match

Snacks in offices

Job summary

Realtor.com is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for the Consumer Services backend platform as it consolidates into the Services & API Gateways platform. This hands-on role leads architecture and execution across the federated graph and API platform, with responsibilities spanning subgraphs, lead-submission services, and shared libraries.

The candidate will balance design and implementation with cross-team leadership, improve operational resilience, and

Qualifications

• Extensive backend experience at scale with production systems and API platforms.
• Deep proficiency in Node.js and TypeScript for APIs and services with GraphQL.
• Experience with distributed, event-driven or asynchronous workflows and retries.
• Strong AWS and Kubernetes/EKS experience including operations and deployment.
• Ability to lead architecture across multiple teams and define technical standards.
• Strong communication to explain tradeoffs to engineering and product stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction for relevant subgraphs during the transition and platform consolidation.
• Lead federation architecture, API/BFF standards, service boundaries, and schema evolution.
• Design and deliver reliable, scalable Node.js and TypeScript services using GraphQL, Apollo Federation, AWS, Kubernetes/EKS, and infra-as-code.
• Protect revenue-critical lead-submission paths while migrating logic to dedicated domains.
• Establish federation governance and reference implementations for domain teams with self-service onboarding.
• Collaborate with multiple teams to resolve dependencies and ensure safe consolidation.
• Drive knowledge resilience through docs, runbooks, and cross-training; mentor engineers and contractors.
• Improve backend quality with API-layer tests, contract tests, CI/CD gates, and robust end-to-end coverage.
• Lead production readiness reviews, incident response, and operational standards for the consumer API and graph platform.

Skills

Node.js

TypeScript

GraphQL

Apollo Federation

AWS

Kubernetes/EKS

Observability

Distributed systems

incident management

Tools

Redis

DynamoDB

S3

ArgoCD

Job description

Realtor.com is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for the Consumer Services backend platform as it consolidates into the Services & API Gateways platform. This hands-on role leads architecture and execution across the federated graph and API platform, with responsibilities spanning subgraphs, lead-submission services, and shared libraries.

The candidate will balance design and implementation with cross-team leadership, improve operational resilience, and