Lead Backend Engineer

Position Overview

• Location Type: Remote
• Job Type: FullTime
• Salary: $130K - $200K

Pocket Worlds is a mission-driven company connecting the world through shared experiences in virtual worlds. We’re a fast-growing, innovative startup featured by Fast Company and backed by Y Combinator. We offer a unique opportunity to contribute to a world-changing mission with a talented, experienced team.

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Backend Engineer with extensive backend development and cloud infrastructure experience (AWS, Kubernetes, MongoDB). You’ll lead a small, elite team and have significant ownership and responsibility for the success of our platform.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a small team of backend engineers.
• Own and operate Kubernetes infrastructure, primarily on AWS.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable and reliable backend systems.
• Contribute to the architecture and evolution of our backend services.
• Participate in the CI/CD pipeline and ensure operational stability.
• Own the documentation, support, deployment, observability, and business continuity of critical services.
• Contribute to the overall technical strategy and roadmap.

Requirements

• Experience: At least 10 years of experience in backend development and infrastructure management, with at least 4 years in a senior+ role.
• Kubernetes Expertise: Extensive experience managing infrastructure at scale, with proven success at delivering stability and performance, and direct ownership of service orchestration.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Experience with AWS, including Terraform, Helml, and Kubernetes (kOps).
• Programming Skills: Proficiency in Python.
• Leadership: Experience leading small teams and owning significant responsibilities.
• Startup Environment: Comfortable working in a high-velocity startup environment.
• Mission-Critical Applications: Experience supporting mission-critical applications at scale.
• Values: Genuine excitement to see a virtual universe be brought to life through your work and a passion for your work.

Technical Stack

• Languages: Async typed Python, Go
• Orchestration: Kubernetes (kOps)
• Cloud: AWS, Terraform, Helm
• Databases: MongoDB, ElasticSearch, Redis, OpenSearch
• Monitoring: Grafana, Kibana, Prometheus
• Communication: REST, FlatBuffers, WebSocket Secure (WSS)
• Architecture: Micro Services, event-based architecture

Planned Stack Upgrades

• Global growth infrastructure expansion
• Enhanced cloud native tools and practices for business continuity and security
• ML-driven recommendations and search engines
• Game server hosting for UGC (User Generated Content)
• AI-powered content generation

Bonus Skills

• Experience programming in GO, C# or Lua.
• Experience with the Unity Gaming Engine.
• Experience orchestrating stateful applications such as game servers.
• Experience building side projects.