Staff Backend Engineer - Infrastructure

About Pocket Worlds

At Pocket Worlds, we are building bleeding-edge technology that enables creators to develop the next generation of social experiences. Our flagship platform, Highrise, is where millions of people express themselves, engage in shared experiences, and create deep friendships. Over 40 million people have already joined the world of Highrise, and it's growing faster every day. Through Highrise, we are connecting the world through shared community created experiences and realizing the positive potential of the internet.

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff Backend Engineer with extensive background and experience with DevOps (AWS, Kubernetes, MongoDB). The ideal candidate should be comfortable in a high-energy, high-passion, and fast-moving environment.

This role will support our backend team and take ownership of our entire DevOps stack, which currently supports 300k DAU and is poised to grow significantly higher. This role will drive our current and future development as we add support for user-crafted experiences and expand our architecture to embrace UGC. In addition, the right candidate should be comfortable with feature development in Python and GO, and will have many opportunities to work on backend features that directly impact our millions of users. We are a true startup with a team that wears many hats, and this role is no exception.

The ideal candidate values a lot of control over their career and is genuinely excited to see a virtual universe be brought to life through their work. The success of this role will be measured by the impact you deliver to our team, product, and world.

Our Current Backend Technical Stack

• Async typed Python, Go
• Kubernetes (kOps)
• AWS
• Terraform, Helm
• MongoDB, ElasticSearch and Redis
• OpenSearch, Grafana, Kibana and Prometheus
• REST, FlatBuffers, WebSocket Secure (WSS)
• Micro Services, event-based architecture

Our Planned Stack Upgrades

• Expand our infrastructure to support global growth
• Enhance our cloud native tools and practices to improve our systems with regard to business continuity and security
• ML-driven recommendations and search engines
• Game server hosting for UGC (User Generated Content)
• AI-powered content generation

Responsibilities

• You have at least 8 years of experience in backend development and infrastructure management, with at least 3 of those in a senior+ role.
• You have extensive experience managing infrastructure at scale, with proven success at delivering stability and performance.
• You have experience with direct ownership of service orchestration with direct involvement in the documentation, support, deployment, observability and CI/CD pipelining.
• You are an expert with owning and operating Kubernetes, preferably in AWS.
• You have experience with and are comfortable working in a high-velocity startup environment.
• You have experience supporting mission-critical applications at scale.
• You have experience programming Python.
• You love what you do. Your work is your passion and you value working with people who feel the same.

Bonuses

• You have experience programming in GO, C# or Lua.
• You have experience with the Unity Gaming Engine.
• You have experience orchestrating stateful application such as game servers.
• You have built any side projects or games outside of work or made significant open-source contributions.
• You are a starter who loves to experiment and learn new things.
• You’re highly energetic and feel comfortable leading and pushing your team to succeed.
• You are comfortable taking control of large systems with minimal documentation.

Salary Range

The base salary range for this role is between $120,000 - $140,000 (USD). This range is not inclusive of our equity package. When determining a candidate’s compensation, we consider a number of factors including skillset, experience, job scope, and current market data.

Why work with us

• Impact: Your work will directly affect millions of users around the world.
• Growth: Your growth isn’t capped by a career ladder. Show us you can deliver the impact, and we’ll respond with recognition and reward.
• Elite team: You’ll be a member of a small and elite team with a lot of freedom to go after opportunities you identify.
• Culture: High trust, high intensity, low process and bureaucracy. We pride ourselves in being a Silicon Valley startup with a laser focus on the mission, and we’ll happily remove all roadblocks in your path to success.
• Office and team: Directly work with the cofounders in our office located in Downtown Austin.

Pocket Worlds Core Values

• Be an Owner (Not a Renter)
• Experts leading experts
• Always be shipping
• Focus on Impact
• Take every unfair advantage
• Love what you do