Staff Backend Software Engineer

DAT Freight & Analytics; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

DAT Freight & Analytics is hiring a Staff Backend Software Engineer to lead design, development, and delivery of core backend services. You will champion best practices, architectural direction, and high‑throughput systems on AWS, including EKS, MSK, and DocumentDB.

You will mentor engineers and address complex production incidents while collaborating with product and DevOps teams. You will work in a hybrid environment, shaping scalable, reliable services for a leading transportation data

Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend software development experience, including senior/staff engineer ownership of complex, high‑throughput services.
• Deep Node.js/TypeScript expertise, building and operating Express HTTP APIs at scale.
• Proven experience owning Tier‑1, customer‑facing transaction systems with strict availability and latency expectations.
• Extensive AWS experience with production backends (EKS/Kubernetes, Lambda, MSK/Kafka, DocumentDB/MongoDB, S3, CloudWatch).
• Strong background in event‑driven and distributed systems using Kafka/MSK.
• Expertise with document databases (DocumentDB/MongoDB).
• Hands‑on migrations with zero/low downtime.
• Strong API contracts and microservice architecture understanding.
• Observability, dashboards, SLOs, on‑call health, and incident reduction focus.
• Leadership in setting engineering standards, PR/testing guidelines, and post‑incident reviews.
• Proven mentoring in system design, observability, and operational excellence.
• Excellent communication to explain trade‑offs to engineers, PMs, and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of large‑scale backend systems and microservices using Node.js/TypeScript.
• Drive automated testing, code reviews, CI/CD, and infrastructure‑as‑code practices.
• Architect and maintain scalable AWS services (EKS, MSK, S3, Secrets Manager).
• Mentor backend engineers and raise team capabilities.
• Lead incident management, root cause analysis, and preventative measures.
• Collaborate with product, DevOps, and frontend teams on end‑to‑end solutions.

Skills

Node.js/TypeScript

AWS

Kafka/MSK

MongoDB/DocumentDB

Terraform

Observability/Monitoring

API design/microservices

Mentorship/leadership

Communication

Tools

Express/HTTP APIs

Kubernetes (EKS)

S3/CloudWatch

Terraform

Secrets Manager

CI/CD

Docker

Job description

About DAT

DAT is an award‑winning employer of choice and a next‑generation SaaS technology company that has been at the leading edge of innovation in transportation supply chain logistics for 45 years. We continue to transform the industry year over year, by deploying a suite of software solutions to millions of customers every day – customers who depend on DAT for the most relevant data and most accurate insights to help them make smarter business decisions and run their companies more profitably. We operate the largest marketplace of its kind in North America, with 400 million freights posted in 2022, and a database of $150 billion of annual global shipment market transaction data. Our headquarters are in Denver, CO, and Beaverton, OR, with additional offices in Seattle, WA; Springfield, MO; and Bangalore, India. For additional information, see www.DAT.com/company.

Job Application Deadline: 07/31/2026

Candidate profile

As a Staff Backend Software Engineer, you will be a key technical leader, responsible for the design, development, and delivery of our core backend services. You will tackle complex technical challenges, set architectural direction, and champion best practices across the engineering organization. This is a highly visible role for an expert who wants to have a major impact on our platform.

What You’ll Do

• Technical Leadership: Lead the design and implementation of large‑scale, high‑performance backend systems and microservices using Node.js.
• Best Practices: Drive the adoption of modern software development practices, including automated testing, code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure‑as‑code.
• Cloud Architecture: Architect, maintain and monitor robust, scalable and reliable services on AWS, leveraging services like EKS, MSK (Kafka), and S3.
• Mentorship: Mentor other backend engineers and provide technical guidance to elevate the skill level of the entire team.
• Incident Management: Lead the response and resolution for complex production incidents, perform root cause analysis, and implement preventative measures.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross‑functional teams, including product managers, DevOps, and front‑end engineers, to deliver timely, high‑quality and performing end‑to‑end solutions.

The Skills And Experience You’ll Bring

• 10+ years of experience in backend software development, including significant time as a senior or staff engineer owning complex, high‑throughput production services.
• Deep Node.js/TypeScript expertise, building and operating Express (or similar) HTTP APIs at scale.
• Proven experience owning Tier‑1, customer‑facing transaction systems (e.g., posting, booking, marketplace flows) with strict availability, correctness, and latency expectations.
• Extensive AWS experience with production backends, ideally including EKS/Kubernetes, Lambda, MSK/Kafka, DocumentDB or MongoDB, and Secrets Manager/S3/CloudWatch, plus infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform or similar).
• Strong background in event‑driven and distributed systems using Kafka/MSK.
• Expertise with document databases especially DocumentDB/MongoDB.
• Hands‑on experience with zero/low‑downtime migrations.
• Strong understanding of microservice and API contracts.
• Fluency with observability and on‑call health, designing dashboards, APM traces, logs, and alerts; defining SLOs; and using these tools to drive down incident frequency and MTTR.
• Experience establishing and raising engineering standards for a team: PR and testing guidelines (unit/contract/integration/smoke/end‑to‑end), deployment validation checklists, and post‑incident review practices.
• Demonstrated technical leadership: leading cross‑team designs in ambiguous problem spaces, writing clear system design documents, operations runbooks, and driving alignment across Engineering, Product, and Operations.
• Proven mentoring track record, especially helping mid‑level engineers grow in system design, observability, and operational excellence.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain trade‑offs and system behavior clearly to engineers, product managers, and non‑technical stakeholders.

Why DAT?

DAT is an award‑winning employer of choice. We have a hybrid work environment and a time‑tested set of operating values predicated on integrity, mutual respect, open communication, and executing with excellence. These values inform our strategic vision as much as any one of our products does. We’re proud to have been an employer of choice in the Portland metropolitan area for four decades, and within one year of opening our Denver office, DAT was #26 on Built In Colorado’s 100 Best Places to Work In Colorado.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, and AD&D insurance
• Parental Leave
• Flexible Vacation Time (FVT)
• Additional 10 holidays of paid time off per calendar year
• 401k matching (immediately vested)

  Equal Opportunity Employer

  DAT embraces the value of a diverse workforce, and believes it is a core strength of our company that we encourage those values in every DAT employee, at every level of our organization, regardless of tenure or rank. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.