Staff Backend Engineer

We Love AI Jobs; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Sift is seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to design, build, and operate high-volume telemetry backends in a hybrid Marina Del Rey, CA environment. You’ll own features end-to-end, from design through post-launch improvements, and work with Go, Rust or Python to scale real-time data processing for mission-critical systems.

You’ll join a tight-knit team of engineers, mentor teammates, and contribute to observability, reliability, and performance across distributed services, with on-call rotations

Qualifications

• 7+ years of backend or infrastructure experience.
• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, Physics, or STEM.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, state, fault tolerance, and recovery.
• Experience with Go, Rust, or Python; SQL and API design (REST, gRPC).
• Proficiency with Kubernetes and observability practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate backend systems handling real-time telemetry.
• Own features end-to-end from design to post-launch improvements.
• Collaborate with Frontend, Design, and Data teams to solve customer problems.
• Enhance performance, scalability, and reliability; participate in on-call rotations.

Skills

Go

Rust

Python

SQL

Linux

REST

gRPC

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

PostgreSQL

Protobuf

React

TypeScript

Docker

Kafka

Flink

Job description

# Staff Backend EngineerSiftMarina Del Rey, CA (Hybrid)Full-time$200,000 – $260,000 / yearUpload your resume once and Scout applies for youApply with ScoutShare this job:LinkedInXSave imageSift builds a telemetry data infrastructure platform for hardware engineering teams working on systems such as rockets, satellites, and autonomous vehicles. You’ll build and operate backend systems that process real-time data, owning features through launch while improving performance, reliability, and observability.* Full-time* Hybrid* 7+ years* Bachelor's Degree### Skills and expertiseGoRustPythonSQLLinuxRESTgRPCKubernetes### Key responsibilities* Build and operate backend systems for high-volume, real-time telemetry data.* Own features end-to-end and improve backend performance, scalability, and reliability.* Debug production issues, improve observability, and mentor teammates through reviews and shared patterns.## How this job comparesCompared with 96 open staff infrastructure jobs on October 10, 2026.Pay: This job pays $200K to $260K a year. The 51 open staff infrastructure jobs that publish US pay start at $206K on average, so this job starts in line with them.Similar open jobs: We Love AI Jobs lists 96 open staff infrastructure jobs at 59 companies.Remote work: This job is hybrid. 17 of the 96 staff infrastructure jobs (18%) are remote.AI in this role: Low. The company works with AI, but AI is a small part of this role's daily work. The posting describes a telemetry data infrastructure role, not work building or operating AI models or products. It mentions an AI era for physical systems, but no day-to-day AI work or tools.## Full descriptionAbout SiftSift is the data infrastructure platform for hardware engineering teams. Sift turns high-frequency telemetry into engineering insights for mission-critical systems. Teams use Sift to build and operate rockets, satellites, autonomous vehicles, energy systems, defense platforms, and more.Founded by former SpaceX engineers who built the tools behind Dragon and Starlink, Sift is building the data infrastructure to herald the AI era for physical systems.In This Role, You'll:• Design, build, and operate backend systems that process and store large volumes of real-time telemetry data.• Own features end-to-end, from design to post-launch improvement.• Collaborate with Frontend, Design, and Data teams to ensure features solve real customer problems.• Optimize backend systems for performance, scalability, and reliability.• Contribute to system evolution—migrating services, introducing caches, and improving storage or indexing layers.• Participate in on-call rotations, debugging live issues, and improving observability.• Raise the bar through code reviews, shared patterns, and mentorship.The Skillset You'll Bring:• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or another STEM discipline• 7+ years of experience in backend or infrastructure roles• Strong understanding of distributed systems fundamentals—state, fault tolerance, recovery.• Experience with Go, Rust, or Python, and strong Linux/networking fundamentals.• Deep knowledge of SQL and operational database experience (indexing, migrations, tuning).• Experience building and scaling APIs (REST, gRPC/Protobuf).• Strong debugging skills and a production-first mindset.• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Prometheus, Argo CD, and other modern infrastructure tools.Bonus Points:• Experience with streaming or time-series data systems (Kafka, Flink, TimescaleDB, etc.).• Experience with performance tuning and profiling at query or service layers.• Familiarity with observability tools (Datadog, Grafana).• Background in hardware or telemetry-heavy environments.Engineering at SIFT:You’ll join a tight-knit team of world-class engineers building foundational systems for next-gen machines. Technologies you'll work with may include:• Frontend & Backend: Go, gRPC, PostgreSQL, Protobuf, React, TypeScript• Data Infrastructure: Apache Arrow, DataFusion, Flink, Kafka, Parquet, Rust• Ops & Tooling: AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, GitHub Actions, Prometheus, Argo CD, Grafana, LinuxLocation:Sift’s headquarters is in Marina Del Rey, CA (Next to LAX). We collaborate in person twice a week—on Mondays and Thursdays—and come together for a full week every two months. We are open to relocating candidates to LA or working from our San Francisco office for the right candidate.Salary range: $200,000 - $260,000 per year. Plus equity and benefits.Eligibility:U.S. Person Required: Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as an asylee or refugee in compliance with ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) / EAR (Export Administration Regulations) regulations.