Senior Back End Engineer

Role Description

We are hiring a Senior Backend Software Engineer with deep expertise in building scalable, reliable systems on Kubernetes. You will design and operate backend services that run in distributed environments, with strong experience in Elasticsearch, container orchestration, and distributed systems principles. This is a high-impact senior role where you will own complex backend systems end-to-end while driving best practices in distributed architecture and observability.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services and APIs using microservices architecture
• Build and operate production workloads on Kubernetes (deployments, services, ingress, autoscaling, Helm, etc.)
• Work extensively with Elasticsearch - indexing, querying, aggregations, performance tuning, and cluster management
• Apply distributed systems concepts to design fault-tolerant, highly available, and scalable systems
• Optimize application performance and reliability in distributed and containerized environments
• Design and implement robust CI/CD pipelines with GitOps and Kubernetes-native deployments
• Troubleshoot complex issues across services, Kubernetes clusters, and Elasticsearch
• Improve system observability, monitoring, and alerting in distributed environments
• Participate in architectural decisions and mentor engineers on distributed systems and Kubernetes best practices
• Collaborate with platform teams to evolve internal tooling and developer experience

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience (strong backend focus)
• Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes (minimum 3+ years running production workloads)
• Solid experience working with Elasticsearch (indexing strategies, query optimization, cluster scaling, etc.)
• Strong understanding of distributed systems concepts (consistency models, partitioning, replication, consensus, failure handling, CAP theorem, etc.)
• Proficiency in at least one backend language: Go, Python, Java, or TypeScript
• Experience with Docker and container orchestration
• Experience with cloud-managed Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, or AKS)
• Good understanding of microservices architecture and inter-service communication patterns
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform preferred)

Nice to Have

• Experience with GitOps tools (Argo CD / Flux)
• Knowledge of service mesh (Istio, Linkerd)
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools (Temporal, Airflow, etc.)
• Background in building or operating search-heavy systems
• Experience with observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, ELK stack)
• Contributions to open-source projects related to Kubernetes or distributed systems

Compensation

• Base Salary: $185,000 – $225,000 (depending on experience and location)
• Equity: Competitive equity package in a well-funded AI startup with significant upside
• Compensation is location-adjusted for cost of living. We are open to candidates in California, New York, and select other states.

What We Offer

• Comprehensive Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage (100% employer-paid for employees)
• Flexible PTO & Paid Holidays: Unlimited PTO with encouragement to actually use it
• Remote First Policy: Work from anywhere in the US (with occasional team offsites)
• Learning & Growth: Annual learning stipend, access to top conferences, and direct mentorship from experienced founders
• Equity Ownership: Competitive equity package with clear growth potential as we scale
• Modern Tech Stack & Tools: Budget for the best equipment and software
• Strong Culture: High-trust, low-ego environment focused on impact, transparency, and work-life balance

Equal Opportunity Employer

Troveo is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.