Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Senior Software Engineer, BackendDepartment: Engineering | Location: Palo Alto HQ | Type: Full-time, On-siteAbout the RoleWe're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to help shape the core infrastructure that powers Pika's products. You'll play a key role in designing and building robust, scalable backend systems — owning everything from API design and service architecture to real-time messaging infrastructure and platform integrations. This is a high-ownership role where your decisions directly impact how millions of users experience Pika.As a senior engineer, you'll also help raise the bar for the team — through architecture guidance, code reviews, and mentoring more junior engineers.What You'll Do• Architect and build scalable backend services that power Pika's web, mobile, and multi-platform products• Own backend logic end-to-end — from database modeling to API design, infrastructure decisions, and production reliability• Design and build real-time systems — WebSocket connections, event-driven architectures, and message queues for low-latency communication• Scale infrastructure for throughput, latency, and reliability as Pika grows• Support internal tooling and operational automation to improve team workflows• Drive technical decisions — write RFCs, evaluate trade-offs, and build consensus across engineering• Mentor engineers through code reviews, architecture guidance, and pair programming• Debug, optimize, and future-proof our systems for scaleWhat We're Looking For• 5+ years of backend engineering experience building production services at scale• Proficiency in modern backend technologies (Node.js, Python, Go, etc.) and frameworks (Express, FastAPI, etc.)• Strong understanding of distributed systems — event-driven architectures, message queues, service-to-service communication• Deep knowledge of database design and operations (SQL, NoSQL, data modeling, performance tuning)• Experience with APIs, cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP), Kubernetes, and CI/CD workflows• Comfort building real-time systems — WebSockets, long-polling, pub/sub patterns• Strong debugging and observability skills — you can trace a problem across services and fix it fast• Ownership mentality — you identify problems and ship solutions without waiting for specs• Clear communication skills and a team-first mindsetNice to Have• Experience with AI/LLM integration (model orchestration, token management, prompt routing)• Experience with multi-tenant SaaS platforms or multi-platform products• Experience building internal tools or automation pipelines• Previous startup experience — comfortable with ambiguity and moving fast