Software Developer - Backend (San Francisco)

We believe that communication belongs to everyone. TextNow is redefining how people connect by combining simplicity, intelligence, and accessibility. We’re a team of curious builders using technology to make communication more affordable and powerful for millions of users every day. As a Software Developer - Backend, you won’t just build services—you’ll shape the systems, architecture, and tooling that make them possible. At TextNow, Members of Technical Staff combine leadership and hands-on coding to enable the highest leverage opportunities possible. Being able to operate strategically, as well as diving into the lowest-level details, is a must. You’ll take technical ownership of key backend domains and work across mobile, web, and data to create faster, smarter, more reliable systems. AI and automation are at the core of how we build. You’ll use them to accelerate development, improve performance, detect and resolve issues faster, and continuously raise the bar for backend development excellence. We’re hiring Members of Technical Staff across multiple levels (intermediate/senior/staff+). Whether you’re an experienced developer looking to lead complex systems, or an early-career developer eager to grow, we’ll align your title and scope based on experience and impact.This role is about impact at scale. You’ll shape how TextNow builds and operates its backend systems—using AI and automation to make development faster, decisions smarter, and experiences more seamless for millions of users worldwide. What You'll DoDesign, develop, and sustain high-performance, scalable backend services using Go microservices and modern cloud-native tooling. Lead architectural modernization and modularization to improve scalability, observability, and developer velocity. Define and own the entire lifecycle of your systems: API design, data modeling, deployment (CI/CD), live-traffic monitoring, integration and load testing, telemetry & data analysis, experiment design (A/B tests), and continuous iteration. Influence and evolve our architecture: propose and lead initiatives to decompose monoliths, migrate legacy code, build shared frameworks and reusable service components; evaluate new backend technologies and lead their adoption. Apply AI-driven tools and automation frameworks to speed up development, code analysis, testing, and reliability. Leverage intelligent telemetry, analytics, and optimization pipelines to improve service performance and resilience. Define observability standards, telemetry pipelines, and fault-tolerance strategies for production-grade distributed systems. Partner closely with product, mobile, and data teams to deliver seamless, high-quality experiences across all platforms. Drive technical discussions, mentor developers, and influence strategic direction across backend and infrastructure domains. Who You AreA technical leader with the ability to create and lead roadmaps/initiatives that align to high-level business objectives. Deep expertise in Go, with additional experience in PHP for legacy systems is a bonus Proven track record of architecting modular, maintainable, and high-performance microservices. Strong background in system design, observability, and performance optimization. Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, Argo CD, Protobuf, CI/CD pipelines, and auto-scaling architectures. Experience using AI and automation to improve developer velocity, reliability, or system intelligence. A collaborative technical leader who thrives in fast-moving environments and mentors others to excel. Passionate about building resilient, intelligent, and highly scalable backend systems that serve millions of users. You architect for observability, reliability, and production-readiness: you understand instrumentation, SLOs/SLIs, fault-tolerance, runbooks, incident triage, scalable telemetry pipelines, and production diagnostics for backend systems. You have been a technical leader (not just an individual contributor): you’ve influenced roadmap decisions, contributed to multi-team initiatives, mentored/led developers, driven culture/process improvements, and interfaced with senior developer/product leadership. Base Salary RangeThe expected base salary range for this role is: $136,300 - $273,900 a yearUnited States (All other areas not listed above): USD $123,900 - $249,000  United States (NYC, CT, NJ, Seattle, LA, San Diego): USD $136,300 - $273,900  United States (San Francisco / Bay Area): USD $148,700 - $298,800  Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Our goal is to offer a competitive package that reflects the impact and expertise you bring to the team. This posting is for a current, active vacancy.More about TextNowOur cultureWe’re proud of the culture that we’ve built at TextNow, but one of the most common questions we hear is ‘how do you continue to sustain it as the world and the company continues to change?’ The reality is that we’re only able to keep up because each and every TextNovian contributes to our culture through being involved, by living our values, sharing feedback, embracing change and more!  Our valuesCustomer ObsessedWe strive to have a deep understanding of our customers. Do Right By Our PeopleWe treat each other with fairness, respect, and integrity. Accept the ChallengeWe adopt a Yes, We Can mindset to achieve ambitious goals. Act Like an OwnerWe treat this company like it's our own... because it is! Give a DamnWe are deeply committed and passionate about our work and achieving results. Our benefits and moreThis is a brief overview of the benefits that TextNow offers its employees. More complete details can be found in TextNow’s Benefit Guide and legal plan documents, which are available to employees on or shortly after their start date with TextNow. The benefits listed herein are for illustrative purposes only and may change from time-to-time in TextNow’s sole discretion. Free phone service Strong work life blend  Employee stock options  Unlimited vacation  12 paid holidays per year Competitive pay Health, dental, and vision benefits Short-term & long-term disability $750 annual wellness benefit or healthcare spending account 401(K) matching Parental leave for eligible employees Learning & Development opportunitiesWe travel a few times a year for various team events, company-wide off-sites, and more More information about our total rewards package will be available during the hiring process. Dogfooding & Customer ObsessionAt TextNow, every employee gets to actively use our app for calling and texting. Dogfooding helps us experience what customers do, to spot issues early, and drive better design, developer, and user experiences. Diversity and InclusionOur aim is to make every person who joins TextNow feel like they belong, that they’re valued, and that they’re able to be their authentic selves at work.  We’re all accountable for creating an inclusive culture and a sense of belonging for one another. By doing this together, we’ll make TextNow better for everyone.  Equal opportunityWe are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. Applicants who require reasonable accommodation during the hiring process may contact our Talent Team. AI usage: We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact our Talent Team.TextNow Candidate PolicyBy submitting an application to TextNow, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the TextNow Candidate Policy