Staff Software Engineer

2 x Staff Backend Engineer Roles | NYC | $220k-$240k + Equity I’m working with two fast-growing Series B technology companies in New York , both looking for genuinely strong Staff-level backend engineers. The businesses are very different, but the engineering bar is similar: complex backend systems, significant architecture ownership, strong judgement and engineers who still want to write production code. One is building the next generation of a travel and hospitality booking/distribution platform . The other is building an AI-powered healthcare claims platform processing complex data and workflows for US health plans. Both are serious hands-on Staff IC roles. Role 1 — Travel / Marketplace / Transactional Systems You’d be joining a growing travel technology business working with thousands of hotels and building out the infrastructure behind its booking and distribution platform. The work includes: Booking, reservation, payment and inventory systems External APIs and major partner integrations Transactional correctness, retries, idempotency and reconciliation Complex relational data modelling Distributed systems and production reliability Owning architecture across a major backend domain Setting patterns and technical direction for other engineers Remaining hands-on with production code They’re particularly interested in engineers from payments, marketplaces, commerce, travel, bookings, orders or other correctness-sensitive environments . Exact language isn’t important. Strong engineering judgement is. You do not need to already hold a Staff title if you’re clearly operating at that level. Role 2 — AI / Healthtech / Data Platforms The second company is building an AI-powered claims operations platform for the US healthcare market. This role is heavily focused on: Backend architecture Large-scale data processing APIs and distributed workflows Complex relational data models AI / LLM-enabled systems RAG, agentic workflows and modern AI infrastructure Reliability, observability and auditability Cross-team architecture and technical direction Mentoring and influencing experienced engineers They’re especially interested in engineers with backgrounds across high-growth technology, healthcare, fintech, data platforms or AI-heavy products . For this one, they’re looking for someone with 10+ years of engineering experience and genuine formal Staff-level experience . What both companies want ✅ Deep backend engineering experience Strong architecture and system-design judgement Experience owning difficult production systems Excellent API and relational data-modelling fundamentals Evidence that your technical decisions influence engineers beyond your own tickets Someone comfortable making decisions with incomplete information Strong communication — you need to explain why you made a decision, what alternatives you considered and what trade-offs you accepted Hands-on engineers who still enjoy building rather than moving entirely into management Strong use of modern AI-assisted engineering tools is increasingly valuable Why these are interesting These aren’t Staff roles where you sit above the engineering team drawing diagrams. Both companies want people who can: design it → make the decision → explain the trade-off → build it → get it into production → make the wider team better. Manhattan, NYC 3–4 days per week in office $220k-$240k base + equity Staff-level individual contributor Series B / high-growth environments ❌ No visa sponsorship If you’re a Staff, Principal, Lead or exceptionally strong Senior Backend Engineer looking for serious technical ownership without moving away from coding, drop me a message. View email address on click.appcast.io