Staff Network Backend Engineer

Point One Navigation; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Point One Navigation seeks a Staff Network Backend Engineer to own the design, implementation, and reliability of backend services powering the RTK Corrections Network and customer-facing APIs. You will lead ingestion, processing, and distribution of GNSS data with low latency and high availability.

They require 7+ years in backend or distributed systems, strong proficiency in Go/Java/Python, and hands-on experience with AWS/GCP, containers, and CI/CD.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience, with depth in backend or distributed systems.
• Proven ability to design, build, and operate production backend services and APIs at scale.
• Ability to decompose high-level goals into actionable tasks, schedules, and milestones.
• Strong proficiency in a backend language such as Go, Java, or Python.
• Deep understanding of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, TLS, HTTP) and high‑throughput, low-latency services.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP), containers, and CI/CD.
• Experience designing testing and verification strategies for complex systems.
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the design, implementation, and reliability of backend services powering the RTK Corrections Network and customer-facing APIs.
• Lead ingestion, processing, and distribution of GNSS correction data for field devices.
• Design streaming and connectivity paths that deliver corrections reliably and with low latency.
• Drive performance, scalability, and observability across the service stack.
• Collaborate with embedded, firmware, infrastructure, and customer-facing teams to deliver end-to-end systems.
• Develop rigorous testing strategies and maintain high coverage across services.

Skills

Backend engineering

Distributed systems

Backend language proficiency

Cloud infrastructure

CI/CD

Observability

Education

BS/MS in CS/CE

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

gRPC

Kafka

Job description

Location: San Francisco, CA / San Diego, CA - In Office 3 Days/Week

About Point One Navigation

Point One Navigation is on a mission to bridge the digital and physical worlds through precision location. Our RTK Corrections Network and Positioning Engine deliver centimeter-level accuracy and high-confidence positioning for vehicles, robots, drones, and devices across industries. We're API-first, developer-focused, and pushing the boundaries of autonomy and automation.

Role Outcome

Staff Network Backend Engineers own the design, implementation, and reliability of the backend services and APIs that power Point One's RTK Correction Network - from correction-data ingestion and distribution to the customer-facing APIs that deliver positioning at scale.

Success In This Role Means

• Backend services are robust, performant, and scalable across a growing base of devices, customers, and geographies.
• Real-time corrections are delivered with low latency and high availability, even under load and partial failure.
• APIs are well-designed, well-documented, and easy for customers and internal teams to build on.
• Engineering decisions reflect a deep understanding of real-world constraints - latency, throughput, reliability, scale, and cost.
• Customer challenges are met with well-designed, durable solutions.
• Observability and testing are treated as first-class responsibilities, giving the team and customers confidence in every release.

Immediate Areas of Focus

Own Backend Services and APIs

• Lead design, implementation, and optimization of backend services that power the RTK Corrections Network and customer-facing APIs.
• Build and evolve API-first services that are clear, well-documented, and reliable for internal and external developers.
• Break down high-level goals into concrete tasks, schedules, and milestones, and hold yourself accountable for delivering against them.
• Drive performance and efficiency improvements across the request path - latency, throughput, and cost.
• Ensure the service stack is well-structured, maintainable, and built to last as the product and customer base grow.

Scale the RTK Corrections Network

• Own the ingestion, processing, and distribution of GNSS correction data from reference stations to devices in the field.
• Design streaming and connectivity paths (e.g., NTRIP and similar protocols) that deliver corrections reliably and at low latency.
• Expand network capacity and coverage as new regions, stations, and customers come online.

Build Reliable Distributed Systems

• Design for high availability, graceful degradation, and recovery under partial failure.
• Own observability - metrics, logging, tracing, and alerting - so issues are caught and resolved before customers feel them.
• Identify and resolve bottlenecks and reliability risks early, particularly as traffic and scale grow.

Respond to Customer and Market Challenges

• Engage directly with evolving customer needs and translate them into well-designed, durable technical solutions.
• Collaborate with embedded, firmware, infrastructure, and customer-facing teams to deliver reliable end-to-end systems.
• Surface technical risks and tradeoffs early so architecture and delivery decisions reflect real-world constraints.

Own Testing and Verification

• Design and maintain rigorous testing strategies across backend services and the correction pipeline.
• Treat test coverage as a first-class engineering responsibility - ensuring the team and customers have confidence in every release.
• Identify gaps in coverage proactively, particularly as new services, protocols, or customer configurations are added.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development, with significant depth in backend or distributed systems.
• Proven ability to design, build, and operate production backend services and APIs at scale - from architecture through deployment and on-call ownership.
• Proven ability to decompose high-level goals into actionable tasks, realistic schedules, and clear milestones - with a track record of delivering on commitments.
• Strong proficiency in a backend language such as Go, Java, or Python.
• Deep understanding of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, TLS, HTTP) and experience building low-latency, high-throughput services.
• Experience designing and operating distributed systems - availability, scaling, and observability.
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or similar), containers, and CI/CD.
• Experience designing and owning testing and verification strategies for complex systems.
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with real-time data streaming or low-latency messaging (gRPC, Kafka).
• Experience with distributed processing frameworks (Flink, Spark, Hadoop)
• Working knowledge of GNSS, RTK corrections, or positioning technologies.
• Background in highly available or mission-critical systems.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and large-scale observability tooling.

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