Platform Staff Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

The YouVersion Platform Staff Engineer designs and builds the APIs and backend services that power a growing ecosystem of third-party developers. This role takes an active hand in both writing production code and shaping technical direction — balancing hands-on engineering with mentorship and code review.

Deeply invested in the developer experience of external partners, this role brings API-first thinking and a commitment to quality that makes YouVersion Platform a joy to build on. Beyond the technical work, it is grounded in YouVersion's mission to help people engage with the Bible — and the conviction that a great platform multiplies that impact exponentially.

YouVersion was created by the local church in 2007 and remains a ministry of Life.Church today. At Life.Church, our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Our team is committed to reaching people worldwide through innovative technology. And YouVersion is one of the ways we get to do that. Life.Church is a multi-site Christian church meeting in the United States and globally at Life.Church Online.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and evolve public API contracts with a focus on developer experience, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
• Write production-quality Python across backend services and APIs; JavaScript experience a plus, particularly for Apigee gateway scripting.
• Develop and maintain Apigee proxy configurations, shared flows, and gateway policies.
• Build and operate backend services in containerized, distributed cloud environments on Google Cloud Platform.
• Manage and optimize edge caching and traffic routing through Fastly.
• Monitor system health, diagnose issues, and drive resolution using New Relic.
• Drive PostgreSQL performance, query optimization, and scalability initiatives.
• Mentor engineers and provide guidance on best practices, code quality, and technical direction.
• Review, test, and approve code contributions, ensuring quality and consistency across the codebase.
• Evaluate task complexity and provide realistic estimates on level of effort and delivery timelines.
• Research and evaluate emerging technologies and industry best practices for potential adoption.
• Partner directly with external developers to gather feedback and improve developer experience.

Skills Needed to Succeed

• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to maintain relationships and partnerships.
• Maintain a systematic and organized approach to completing assignments accurately, thoroughly, and timely.
• Clearly explain complicated and detailed processes in a concise and simple way.
• Ability to self-motivate, take initiative, make independent decisions, and problem-solve.
• Ability to collaborate in a team environment and work independently.
• Ability to maintain composure during stressful situations.
• Own technical design for projects and understands, and articulates, the tradeoffs in creating high-quality software.
• High School Diploma or GED.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science required.
• 7+ years of related work experience.

Benefits We Offer

• Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons. 
• Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health. 
• Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase. 
• Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.
• Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.
• Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5% (including employee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment! 
• $160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth. 
• Casual dress and work environment.
• And much more!

Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity

At Life.Church, every staff member, and intern is a minister and is expected to engage in the church's ministry fully. We consider ministry readiness and an individual’s capacity to represent Life.Church’s beliefs as a minister during the selection process for all staff and intern positions. An essential function within every position held by a staff member or intern at Life.Church is to uphold and represent the beliefs of Life.Church. Learn more about what we believe at Life.Church.

While we unite around our mission, we know unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our calling is too great, and our mission is too important not to be intentional about strengthening our team through diversity. We know that diverse perspectives in race, ethnicity, background, age, and gender are essential to reaching the world for Christ. To learn more about how we strengthen our team through diversity, visit our careers page.

All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.