Backend Developer

About Us:

The Donovan’s Venom is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on curating universal accessibility to fine arts and music education for all. We are passionately dedicated to ensuring that everyone, regardless of financial circumstances, has access to high-quality music education, performance opportunities, and fine art. We aim to inspire, empower, and uplift communities by fostering a love for music and the arts through our commitment to education, inclusivity, diversity, and social impact, which drives us to expand our reach continually and enrich the lives of those we serve.

We’re looking for a Back End Developer to join our growing team!

Position Overview

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Backend Developer with 2 to 4+ years of professional experience building scalable, secure, and high-performance backend systems. You will play a key role in designing, developing, and maintaining web applications and microservices that power our products.

As a Backend Developer, you will collaborate closely with Frontend Developers, QA, DevOps Engineers, and Solution Architects to deliver reliable, scalable, and maintainable software solutions. We are looking for someone who is passionate about modern backend technologies, enjoys solving complex technical challenges, and thrives in a collaborative Agile environment.

If you are a proactive team player with strong attention to detail, excellent problem-solving skills, and a passion for building robust APIs and cloud-based applications, we'd love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain scalable backend services and RESTful APIs using Node.js , TypeScript , and JavaScript .
• Build and maintain microservices-based applications that are secure, resilient, and highly available.
• Collaborate with frontend developers to define API contracts and ensure seamless integration between frontend and backend systems.
• Design and implement efficient business logic while ensuring code quality, scalability, and maintainability.
• Integrate third-party APIs and external services where required.
• Develop reusable backend components and shared libraries to improve development efficiency.
• Troubleshoot, debug, and resolve production issues while maintaining system reliability and performance.
• Participate in code reviews, technical discussions, architecture reviews, and sprint ceremonies.
• Write clean, well-documented, and testable code following industry best practices.
• Contribute to improving backend architecture, engineering standards, and development processes.
• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements that enhance platform performance and developer productivity.

Volunteer Commitment Expectations

• Estimated Commitment: 10–15 hours per week
• Availability: Flexible, with alignment to sprint/project timelines
• Participation in development and design meetings required

Technical Skills

Programming Languages

• Node.js
• TypeScript
• JavaScript (ES6+)

Backend Development

• RESTful APIs
• API Design
• API Versioning
• Authentication & Authorization
• Error Handling
• Middleware Development

Architecture

• Microservices
• Distributed Systems
• Service-Oriented Architecture
• Event-Driven Architecture (preferred)

Cloud Technologies

• Microsoft Azure
• Azure App Services
• Azure Functions
• Azure Storage
• Azure API Management (preferred)

API Development & Testing

• Postman
• Axios
• JSON
• REST API Integration

Version Control

• Git
• GitHub

Development Practices

• CI/CD
• Code Reviews
• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• Debugging

Performance Optimization

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Web Development, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 2–4 years of experience in backend development
• Experience with any of the following would be an advantage:
• Azure DevOps
• Messaging platforms (Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, Kafka)
• SQL and NoSQL databases
• Redis or distributed caching
• OAuth 2.0 / JWT Authentication
• OpenAPI (Swagger)
• Logging and monitoring tools
• CI/CD pipelines
• Automated testing frameworks

Performance Evaluation Framework (What Success Looks Like)

In this role, you will:

• Deliver scalable, secure, and high-performing backend services.
• Develop robust, well-documented APIs that support seamless frontend integration.
• Build resilient microservices that are easy to maintain and extend.
• Produce clean, testable, and maintainable code aligned with engineering standards.
• Collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams to deliver reliable software solutions.
• Contribute to improving backend architecture, cloud infrastructure, and engineering best practices.
• Help foster a collaborative, quality-focused, and innovation-driven engineering culture.

Work Environment

• Fully remote volunteer role
• Agile, project-based development environment
• Collaborative with creative and engineering teams

Disclaimer

This is a volunteer position and does not constitute employment. Responsibilities may evolve based on organizational needs.

As a 100% volunteer-led U.S. nonprofit organization, we may engage volunteers located outside the United States. International volunteer participation is subject to applicable U.S. sanctions and export-control requirements, data privacy and information-security requirements, background screening where appropriate, and confirmation that the volunteer’s country and assigned responsibilities have been approved by the organization.

We are onboarding individuals who are ready to contribute immediately.