Staff Software Engineer, Python

Northbeam; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)

401(k) plan

PTO and holidays

Parental leave

Work-from-home stipend

Job summary

Northbeam is seeking a Staff-level Software Engineer (backend focus) to drive architectural decisions and ship scalable data products. You’ll split time between backend systems and occasional frontend work, partnering with data scientists, PMs, and designers to move from ambiguity to production-ready solutions.

The role emphasizes building a robust incrementality platform, near real-time data processing, and AI-enabled workflows for marketing insights.

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing and building distributed backend systems and APIs.
• Strong Python experience and system-architecture ownership.
• Track record partnering with PMs, designers, and data scientists to shape builds.
• Startup or ambiguity-rich environments requiring breadth and judgment.
• Ability to turn ambiguous needs into sound tech architecture and production-ready solutions.
• Experience navigating complex datasets and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Architect the incrementality product into a scalable experimentation platform.
• Define near-real-time ingestion/processing patterns beyond batch workflows.
• Define AI-powered workflows for marketers to evaluate performance and act on insights.
• Lead work on connection-state systems and partner ecosystem data ingestion/exports.
• Shape RBAC approach and mentor engineers to raise shipping standards.
• Collaborate across backend, frontend, pipelines, and infrastructure as needed.

Skills

Distributed backend

Python

Architecture

Mentorship

Cross-functional

Frontend exposure

Tools

React

TypeScript

APIs

Job description

Northbeam is building the world's most advanced marketing intelligence platform, providing top eCommerce brands a unified view of their business data through powerful attribution modeling and customizable dashboards. Our technology helps customers accurately track ad spend, understand the full customer journey, and drive profitable growth. Machine learning has been at the heart of Northbeam since day one: our full suite of measurement, spanning multi-touch attribution, MMM+, and incrementality, is built on it, along with laser-accurate first-party data. Now we're taking that foundation further, using AI to help brands operationalize their data and turn Northbeam insights into automated decisions.

We're experiencing rapid growth, have strong product-market fit, and are looking for the right people to help us scale. This is a rare chance to make a meaningful impact at a fast-moving, high-growth company. At Northbeam, you'll join a team of driven, collaborative, and talented individuals who value personal growth and excellence. We'd love for you to be part of our journey.

We're a remote-friendly company with physical offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

About the Role

Northbeam is fundamentally a data product - the whole company. We don’t sell shoes, ads, or games. We sell data: quality integrations with a variety of platforms, fresh and reliable data pulls, robust data ingest APIs, correct aggregations, and algorithmic insights on top of that data, all packaged up in a user-facing application.

What this means for you is that high-quality, robust data integration is at the core of what we do, and your work will have a direct connection to the company’s success.

We're looking for a Staff-level Software Engineer who leans backend and can take product problems from ambiguity through architecture to production. You'll spend roughly 70% of your time on backend and distributed systems work and 20–30% on frontend, giving you the ability to own capabilities across the stack and to make architectural calls that hold up on both sides of it.

You’ll take new products from early traction to meaningful scale, and set the technical direction that gets them there. That includes architecting our new incrementality offering into a scalable experimentation platform, defining our approach to near real-time data infrastructure, and establishing how AI shows up in our marketing users' workflows. You’ll partner closely with data scientists, product managers, and designers, and your influence on what gets built will be as real as your influence on how.

Your Impact

• Architect our new incrementality product into a reliable, repeatable experimentation platform, and own the technical decisions that determine whether it scales.
• Set the direction for near-real-time ingestion and processing as we move beyond batch workflows.
• Define the patterns for AI-powered workflows that help marketers evaluate performance and act on insights — the first version and the framework that follows it.
• Lead work on connection-state systems and the partner ecosystem across data ingestion and exports.
• Shape technical approach in adjacent product areas such as role-based access control (RBAC).
• Multiply the team: design review, mentorship, and raising the standard for what ships.

What You Bring

• 8+ years designing and building distributed backend systems, microservices, APIs, and/or data processing systems in Python.
• Deep experience owning system architecture, including the tradeoffs that only surface at scale.
• A track record of partnering with product managers, designers, and data scientists to shape what gets built, not only how.
• Startup experience, or experience in an environment demanding breadth, sound judgment, and strong problem-solving under ambiguity.
• Demonstrated ability to turn ambiguous product needs into sound technical architecture and production-ready solutions — repeatedly, across different problem spaces.
• Fluency navigating complex datasets and interconnected tables to investigate issues, trace dependencies, and find the right path forward.
• Working frontend experience with React and TypeScript; deep frontend specialization is NOT required.
• Strong coding fundamentals, with AI used as an accelerator rather than a substitute for core capabilities.
• A generalist mindset and willingness to work across backend, frontend, pipelines, and infrastructure when the product requires it.
• Experience mentoring engineers and improving how a team operates.

Bonus Skills & Experience

• Most of your experience is in data-intensive backend engineering, but you've also shipped frontend work.
• You've been the person a team turns to when the architecture question doesn't have an obvious answer.

Base Salary Range

$190,000 - $220,000 USD

Actual compensation may vary based on experience, skills, and location.

In addition to your base salary, we offer an equity package, comprehensive healthcare benefits (medical, dental, and vision), and a 401(k) plan. Our team enjoys a flexible PTO policy, 12 company-paid holidays, and 12 weeks of paid parental leave. We also provide a $500 work-from-home stipend to support your remote setup.

Interview Process
The interview process varies by role but typically begins with a 30-minute interview with a Northbeam recruiter, followed by a video interview with the hiring manager. Next, candidates complete a role-specific video interview followed by video or onsite interviews with several team members. The final step is a video interview with our CEO/Co-founder. The entire interview process is usually 5-7 interviews total and requires around 5-8 hours of your time.

We accept applications on an ongoing basis.

This is a role that must be performed in the US or Canada.

Are you currently authorized to work in the US? * Select...

Do you now or will you in the future require immigration sponsorship? * Select...

We are an equal opportunity employer and consider all work-authorized candidates. This question is asked solely to assess operational planning needs.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Northbeam’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.