Backend Engineer

Backend Engineer Opportunity At SkipSkip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement. Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.Skip is a 22-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years.We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable backend engineer to own the systems powering a new generation of wearable robots. From APIs and data pipelines connecting devices to the cloud, to the infrastructure behind real-time telemetry, over-the-air updates, and fleet management. You'll navigate the full range of backend challenges (scalability, reliability, security, latency) while integrating tightly with embedded hardware in a fast-moving startup environment.You'll work as an equal member of our 3-4 person software team. You'll be responsible for backend development and cloud infrastructure as we build a new consumer robotics platform. You'll be expected to coach and mentor Skippers with less experience.Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:Develop and manage our backend systems, particularly focusing on containerized services and cloud storage solutions for data ingestion and processing as we go from prototypes to fleet of 5,000 MO/GOs shipped to customers homes in the next 2 yearsAutomate infrastructure setup and management using tools like Terraform, making the deployment process more reproducible and scalable.Enable us to scale safely and sustainable, for example transitioning from a single cloud project to distinct Dev and Prod projects in GCP, ensuring system safety, data integrity, and environment separation.Design and optimize data storage and retrieval processes, scaling up storage buckets and data ingestion pipelines to meet increasing data demands.Manage and streamline CI/CD workflows currently hosted in GitHub, reducing costs by optimizing test run segmentation and potentially hosting CI on GCP VMs.Monitor and optimize infrastructure, ensuring efficient usage of compute and storage resourcesDevelop automation scripts and processes for infrastructure provisioning, backups, monitoring, and maintenance, enhancing system stability and scalability.Implement security best practices across backend and infrastructure to ensure data protection and system reliability.Collaborate with frontend, hardware, and controls teams to ensure smooth data flow across the system.Wear prototypes several hours a week to participate in data collection, test new models and provide feedbackContribute to the improvement of software development processes and practices. Engage in code reviews and knowledge sharing to promote a culture of continuous learning.Bring joy to the team, participate in embarrassing team events, tolerate KZ's terrible music choicesBasic Qualifications8+ years of experience in backend engineering, with a focus on cloud infrastructure and data-intensive applicationsExcellent coding skills in Python and C++Experience with cloud infrastructure like GCPStrong experience with containerization technologies like Docker and orchestration tools such as Kubernetes.Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools, e.g. TerraformExperience with CI/CD pipelines, e.g. GitHub ActionsExperience with IoT and edge devicesAble to deliver quality work in a fast-paced startup environmentAbility to relocate to work at the Skip Bay Area officeSense of humour, tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spellingBonus PointsExperience in scaling and managing data pipelines for high-volume data ingestion using Beam/dataflowUnderstanding of DevOps and SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) principles to ensure stability and scalability in production systems.Experience with a UI framework like Dart/Flutter or Angular/TSExperience with Rust, robotics or mechatronics (ST/TI firmware, SPI/UART, BLE, etc)Experience with machine learning / ML OpsExperience in start-up environmentsPersonal motivation to improve human movementThis is a full time hybrid position working at the Skip office in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.Skip is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status.Any and all offers of employment extended by Skip are conditional on candidates' ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States.