Senior Backend Engineer

Role

Senior Backend Engineer responsible for designing and implementing scalable, event-driven backend systems and APIs that support Ovation’s customer experience platform for restaurants. The role includes architectural decision-making, mentoring other engineers, and shaping the technical direction of the platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable, event-driven microservices and service boundaries
• Build robust RESTful or GraphQL APIs consumed by web, mobile, and third-party integrations
• Design database schemas and optimize queries for performance at scale
• Develop features across backend services: survey orchestration, messaging systems, campaign execution, analytics processing, and integration webhooks
• Build and maintain integrations with external platforms (POS systems, loyalty programs, review platforms)
• Implement business logic spanning multiple services and data sources
• Ensure observability: logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting
• Integrate and build AI-driven features by working with LLM APIs
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers; lead technical discussions and establish engineering best practices

Requirements

Core Competencies (Required)

• 5+ years building backend systems, APIs, or distributed services
• Strong understanding of microservices architecture, service-to-service communication, and eventual consistency
• Experience with event-driven architectures (message queues, pub/sub, event buses)
• Deep experience designing and building RESTful or GraphQL APIs, including versioning and auth
• Strong database design skills (SQL or NoSQL), query optimization, indexing, and performance tuning
• Test-driven development mindset and experience with unit, integration, and end-to-end testing
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, version control, and code review processes

Valued Experience

• Experience with Node.js/TypeScript (or Python, Ruby, Go, Java, C#, etc.)
• Experience on AWS and serverless architectures (Lambda, EventBridge, SQS, API Gateway)
• Familiarity with MongoDB and Mongoose or other document databases
• Background in SaaS/B2B platforms, multi-tenant architectures, real-time communications, and integration platforms
• Experience integrating LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere) and production prompt engineering

Tech Stack (examples mentioned)

• Languages & Runtimes: Node.js, TypeScript (also mentions Python, Ruby, Go, Java, C#)
• Cloud & Platform: AWS (Lambda, EventBridge, SQS, S3, API Gateway, DynamoDB)
• Database: MongoDB Atlas, Mongoose
• Frameworks & Tools: Serverless Framework, GitHub Actions CI/CD
• Monitoring & Observability: New Relic APM, DataDog, Sentry, CloudWatch (Logs)
• API tools: Swagger/OpenAPI, Postman
• Background job systems referenced: Celery, Sidekiq, Bull
• Infrastructure as Code: CloudFormation, Terraform, CDK, Pulumi
• AI providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere

Benefits & Work Model

• Competitive compensation
• Remote-first culture with occasional in-person gatherings
• Health & wellness benefits with 401k matching
• Flexible hours, generous PTO, company holidays, Focus Fridays, and a life-balance messaging policy
• Learning budget and clear career progression

Logistics

• Employment type: Full-time
• Work location: Remote
• Pay range (stated): $140,000 - $200,000 per year