Staff Backend Software Engineer

DAT; United States; Hybrid; USD 172,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, AD&D

Parental Leave

Flexible Vacation Time

10 holidays per year

401k matching

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disability leaves

FSA/HSA

Employee Assistance Program

Wellness programs

Employee referrals

Diversity & inclusion

Job summary

DAT is seeking a Staff Backend Software Engineer to lead the design, development, and delivery of core backend services. You will tackle complex challenges, set architectural direction, and champion best practices across engineering.

You will blueprint scalable systems using Node.js/TypeScript on AWS (EKS, MSK, S3) with a strong emphasis on reliability, observability, and incident response. This is a high-visibility role requiring mentorship and cross-team collaboration.

Qualifications

• 10+ years backend software development experience, senior/staff level ownership of complex systems.
• Deep Node.js/TypeScript expertise with Express-like HTTP APIs at scale.
• AWS production backends with EKS/Kubernetes, Lambda, MSK/Kafka, DocumentDB/MongoDB, S3, CloudWatch.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of large-scale backend systems and microservices using Node.js.
• Drive automated testing, code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code practices.
• Architect and maintain scalable, reliable services on AWS (EKS, Kafka, S3, DocumentDB).
• Mentor backend engineers and elevate team skills across observability and operations.
• Lead incident response, root-cause analysis, and preventative measures.
• Collaborate with product, DevOps, and frontend teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.

Skills

Node.js/TypeScript

Backend design

AWS/EKS

Kafka/MSK

MongoDB/DocumentDB

CI/CD & IaC

Observability

Mentoring

APIs & contracts

Leadership

Tools

Terraform

Kubernetes (EKS)

Lambda

MSK/Kafka

DocumentDB/MongoDB

S3/CloudWatch

Secrets Manager

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, conduct 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.

For starters, we have a hybrid work environment, but we also know what makes a great workplace. We have a time-tested and resolute 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’ve 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.

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, and AD&D insurance
• Parental Leave
• Flexible Vacation Time (FVT)
• An additional 10 holidays of paid time off per calendar year
• 401k matching (immediately vested)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Short- and Long-term disability sick leave
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Health Savings Accounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Additional programs - Employee Referral, Internal Recognition, and Wellness
• Free TriMet transit pass (Beaverton Office)
• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Work on impactful projects in a cutting-edge environment
• Collaborative and supportive team culture
• Opportunity to make a real difference in the trucking industry
• Employee Resource Groups

*This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship**

For Colorado-based candidates, in compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the salary range for this role is $172,000.00 - $223,000.00 + target bonus. DAT considers factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s work experience, education and training, core skills, internal equity, and market and business elements when extending an offer.

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)