Senior Backend Engineer, Collaboration

Senior Backend Engineer, Collaboration THE PITCH Slate is building collaboration features that let brand teams work together on content in real time — and we need a Senior Backend Engineer to own the infrastructure that makes it possible. You’ll build the backend systems for real-time collaboration: operational transforms, presence, commenting, version history, and the APIs that tie it all together. WHAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY DO BUILD REAL-TIME COLLABORATION INFRASTRUCTURE - Design and build the backend systems that power real-time document collaboration — conflict resolution, operational transforms or CRDTs, and state synchronisation - Build presence, cursors, and live activity indicators across Slate’s shared workspaces - Own the performance and reliability of collaboration features at scale ENABLE TEAM WORKFLOWS - Build commenting, tagging, and notification systems that support async and real-time team workflows - Design version history and branching capabilities so teams can collaborate without fear - Work closely with frontend engineers to define the APIs and protocols they need RAISE THE PLATFORM BAR - Improve the reliability and scalability of Slate’s existing backend systems - Define and own the observability and alerting for collaboration features - Contribute to architectural decisions that affect the whole engineering team YOU’D BE A GREAT FIT IF YOU HAVE THE EXPERIENCE: - 5+ years of backend engineering experience with a track record of shipping production systems - Experience building real-time systems (WebSockets, CRDTs, OT, or similar) - Strong understanding of distributed systems and database design YOU’VE DONE WORK LIKE THIS BEFORE: - Built collaborative editing or real-time sync features in a production product - Designed systems that handle concurrent writes and conflict resolution - Operated stateful systems with high availability requirements YOU WORK THE WAY WE WORK: - You own the outcomes, not just the tasks - You communicate clearly and raise issues early - You think carefully about correctness and edge cases, but also know when to ship TECH STACK Node.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Redis, WebSockets, AWS THE DETAILS - Location: Remote, anywhere from EST (UTC-5) to UTC+2 - Reporting to: Maciej Kucharek, Head of Engineering - Compensation: US $170k–200k | Rest of World $95k–140k USD + equity BENEFITS - Equity options - Unlimited PTO (we actually take it) - $200/month wellness stipend - Health insurance stipend - Home office budget ABOUT SLATE Slate is the creative workspace for brand social teams. We help teams create and ship on-brand content fast with an all-in-one editor, built-in asset management, and seamless creative file workflows, backed by hands-on support from people who have done the job. Teams across top sports leagues and global brands like Amazon and Hoka use Slate every day to elevate their social presence. Note: We do not sponsor work visas. Slate is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, regardless of background, identity, or experience.