Staff Cloud Backend Engineer

Join a high-performing team at Sonatus that’s redefining what cars can do in the era of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV).

At Sonatus, we’re driving the transformation to AI-enabled software-defined vehicles. Traditional automotive software methods can’t keep pace with consumer expectations shaped by the mobile industry—where features evolve rapidly, update seamlessly, and improve continuously. That’s why leading OEMs trust Sonatus to accelerate this shift. Our technology is already in production across more than 5 million vehicles on the road today and rapidly expanding.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with 250+ employees worldwide, Sonatus combines the agility of a fast-growing company with the scale and impact of an established partner. Backed by strong funding and proven by global deployment, we’re solving some of the most interesting and complex challenges in the industry. Join us and help redefine what’s possible as we shape the future of mobility.

Role Summary:

We are seeking a highly motivated Staff Cloud Backend Engineer for AI Applications to join our team and help us accelerate software innovations for next-generation software-defined vehicles. In this role, you will be responsible for designing and implementing large-scale data processing pipelines and building the cloud infrastructure to support our AI applications. You'll use your deep expertise in cloud architecture and backend development to make critical decisions that span data processing, API design, and cloud service deployment. This is a key leadership position for a hands-on engineer who will define our data governance, infrastructure as code, and production observability best practices.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Design and build the foundational, end-to-end cloud and backend platform for our Generative AI systems. You'll make critical decisions that span data processing, API design, and service deployment.
• Build and scale the data pipelines that are the lifeblood of our applications. This includes processing massive datasets and creating the real-time data flows for our AI systems. You will design and implement large-scale data processing pipelines that handle a diverse set of data collected from millions of vehicles.
• Deploy, scale, and optimize our cloud infrastructure. You will manage hardware resources, minimize inference latency, and build robust monitoring to ensure our AI system is always fast, accurate, and cost-effective. This includes developing and deploying containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Create a single, cohesive set of best practices for the entire application lifecycle. Your work will define how we handle data governance, infrastructure as code, and production observability in one seamless system.
• Design secure and scalable networking layers within cloud environments, including VPC design, private/public subnet configurations, NAT/Internet gateways, and load balancers.
• Implement and manage core infrastructure services such as DNS, routing, and service discovery to ensure reliable, low-latency access to cloud services.
• Automate infrastructure deployment using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi, etc.), ensuring repeatability across cloud environments.
• Deliver production-ready CI/CD pipelines for automated provisioning and deployment of containerized workloads.

Requirements:

• A seasoned engineer with 8+ years of experience building and scaling data-intensive, cloud-based services and applications.
• Hands-on experience with cloud networking constructs (VPC, subnets, route tables, gateways, security groups, load balancers, and DNS).
• Deep expertise in deploying and managing cloud-native workloads on various cloud environments.
• Strong understanding of cloud networking, identity, and security principles (e.g., IAM, private networking, TLS/SSL, ingress/egress).
• Proven track record of designing highly available and fault-tolerant architectures across multiple regions/zones.
• A "systems thinker" with a demonstrated ability to architect end-to-end solutions, possessing a strong foundation in both Data Engineering and Cloud/Backend Software Development.
• Deep proficiency in Python and/or Go with an emphasis on Infrastructure as Code. 
• Strong programming fundamentals, particularly in data structures & algorithms, and concurrency.
• Hands-on experience with containerization/orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience building and optimizing highly available, scalable, distributed backend services leveraging open source technologies and tools such as Kafka, RabbitMQ, and ElasticSearch.
• Experience with developing data pipelines and database-supported cloud services and applications.
• Ability to deeply analyze, break down, and solve complex problems.
• Good verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex ideas and solutions clearly, and to collaborate with cross-functional teams effectively.
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Math, Physics, or related fields.

Benefits:

Sonatus is a tight-knit team aligned around a unified vision. You can expect a strong engineering-oriented culture that focuses on building the best products and solutions for our customers. We embrace equality and diversity in all regards because respect is ingrained in our every fiber. Other benefits Sonatus offers include:

• Stock option plan
• Health care plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Unlimited paid time off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Flexible work arrangements
• Free food & snacks in office

The posted salary range is a general guideline and represents a good faith estimate of what Sonatus ("Company") could reasonably expect to pay for a base salary for this position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. The Company reserves the right to modify this range in the future, as needed, as market conditions change.

Pay range for this role

$176,000—$242,000 USD

Sonatus is a fast-paced and innovative company and are seeking team members who are passionate about making a difference. If you are ready to take your career to the next level, we highly encourage you to apply.

_ To all recruitment agencies : Sonatus, Inc. ("Sonatus") does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our careers alias or other Sonatus' employees. Sonatus is not responsible for any fees associated with unsolicited activities._