Senior Backend Engineer (saas Platform) - A309 - Remote Eligible

Senior Backend Engineer

The Senior Backend Engineer will design, build, and scale backend systems for a customer-facing SaaS platform. You will focus on Python-based services, Django REST APIs, and PostgreSQL data models that power both internal functionality and third-party integrations. This role works cross-functionally with product managers, designers, and front-end engineers to deliver high-quality features end-to-end. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced environments, makes pragmatic tradeoffs, and takes ownership of long-term system health while shipping impactful features.

The company emphasizes building scalable, high-quality systems and fosters a collaborative, product-focused culture.

Pearl works with the top 1% of candidates from around the world and connects them with the best startups in the US and EU. Our clients have raised over $5B in aggregate and are backed by companies like OpenAI, a16z, and Founders Fund. They're looking for the sharpest, hungriest candidates who they can consistently promote and work with over many years. Candidates we've hired have been flown out to the US and EU to work with their clients, and even promoted to roles that match folks onshore in the US.

At Pearl, we're not just another recruiting firm—we connect you with exceptional opportunities to work alongside visionary US and EU founders. Our focus is on placing you in roles where you can grow, be challenged, and build long-term, meaningful careers.

The ideal candidate will:

• Drive the development and scalability of backend systems powering thousands of live events globally.
• Improve system performance, reliability, and maintainability through proactive architecture and code quality initiatives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver customer-facing features efficiently and safely.
• Influence the technical roadmap and implement best practices for API design, database modeling, and service integration.
• Contribute to team knowledge and mentorship through code reviews and shared engineering standards.

Core responsibilities include:

• Backend Architecture & Feature Ownership – 40%
• Own backend execution for customer-facing features from design through production release.
• Translate product requirements into secure, maintainable backend solutions.
• Design clean data models and RESTful APIs.
• Support third-party integrations and internal service communication.
• System Evolution & Technical Strategy – 25%
• Evaluate legacy systems and propose incremental improvements.
• Contribute to long-term backend architecture roadmaps.
• Balance technical debt reduction with feature velocity.
• Establish and uphold backend standards for API design, performance, and maintainability.
• Performance, Reliability & Observability – 20%
• Optimize PostgreSQL schemas, indexes, and queries for performance.
• Profile APIs and resolve bottlenecks.
• Diagnose production issues using logs, metrics, and tracing tools.
• Improve system reliability and scalability.
• Collaboration & Leadership – 15%
• Partner with a predominantly front-end team to identify risks and constraints.
• Participate in planning, estimation, and technical design discussions.
• Mentor engineers and share knowledge through code reviews.