Lead Backend Engineer (Node.js)

Alertus Technologies•Baltimore, MD

22h•Onsite

About The Position

In a world where information moves at the speed of light, the difference between a notification received and a notification lost can be critical. We are looking for a Lead Backend Engineer to take ownership of our high-performance core responsible for delivering mass notifications via SMS, Email, Voice, Push, Slack, and IPAWS to thousands of users simultaneously. This isn't just about writing code; it’s about engineering resilience. You will be the architect of systems that cannot afford to fail, ensuring that every message reaches its destination with perfect reliability and industry-leading throughput. If you are driven by the challenge of optimizing distributed systems and building SaaS solutions that scale gracefully under usage spikes, your expertise will have a direct, tangible impact on our mission. Candidates must be located within driving distance from our Baltimore HQ.

Requirements

Deep, production-level expertise in Node.js, with a comprehensive understanding of its asynchronous nature and event-driven architecture.
Proven experience designing and maintaining complex, multi-tenant SaaS environments that prioritize uptime and data integrity.
Proven experience with both relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., Redis, DynamoDB, MongoDB) databases, specifically focusing on performance tuning, indexing strategies, and data modeling for scale.
A strong background in distributed systems, including experience with message brokers (e.g., RabbitMQ, Kafka) and database optimization.
Expert knowledge of monitoring tools and observability practices to ensure 24/7 system health.
The ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders while fostering an inclusive, collaborative environment.
Ability to travel on occasion.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with IPAWS, telephony providers (Twilio, Vonage), or large-scale email delivery services.
Proficiency with tools like Terraform or Pulumi to manage cloud infrastructure.
Familiarity with compliance standards relevant to data transmission and privacy.

Responsibilities

Design and evolve a high-throughput notification engine capable of handling massive spikes in data without compromising on latency or reliability.
Continuously refine system architecture to meet and exceed strict SLAs, ensuring the engine remains performant as our user base grows.
Implement sophisticated monitoring, alerting, and self-healing protocols to identify and resolve bottlenecks before they impact our users.
Set the standard for engineering excellence through high-quality code reviews, technical documentation, and proactive mentorship of the engineering team.
Design and maintain high-performance database schemas and query structures optimized for rapid ingestion and retrieval of millions of notification records.
Build and maintain robust API integrations and asynchronous communication pathways (message queues, event-driven architecture) across diverse notification channels.
Transition high-level business requirements into technical roadmaps, focusing on modularity, security, and long-term maintainability.