Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Grindr • Chicago, IL

20h • $126,000 - $168,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

This role involves owning the design and development of key backend services within Grindr's microservices architecture. The engineer will collaborate with Product Managers, Designers, and other Engineers to refine feature design and functionality. Responsibilities include optimizing services using tools like Redis, Postgres, and Kafka on AWS, making data-driven recommendations on technology and architecture choices, and owning the reliability and availability of services, including optimizations, cost reduction, and incident response. The position is a hybrid role based in Chicago, requiring office presence on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience as a Software Engineer working on backend systems (service APIs, data processing, messaging services)
• Experience designing and implementing API systems for high load and data consistency in a microservice-based architecture
• Experience designing systems that make heavy and efficient use of cloud services, AWS preferred
• Passionate about testing software and systems
• Deep understanding of concurrency concepts and trade-offs
• You love figuring things out and understanding how systems work end to end
• Experience with the JVM and at least one JVM language such as Java, Kotlin, or Scala
• Applies advanced prompting techniques for complex tasks, critically audits AI outputs for accuracy, and shares AI workflows with the team

Nice To Haves

• Experience developing production systems using Kotlin and Kafka
• Enjoy mentoring and skilling up less experienced developers
• Experience designing and productionizing large-scale distributed systems

Responsibilities

• Own the design and development of key backend services within Grindr's microservices architecture
• Work with Product Managers, Designers, and other Engineers to refine feature design and functionality
• Optimize the services you own using tools like Redis, Postgres, and Kafka on AWS
• Make data-driven recommendations on technology and architecture choices for the systems you support
• Own reliability and availability for your services, playing a key role in optimizations, cost reduction, and incident response

Benefits

• Health, Dental & Vision Full premium coverage for you. Partial coverage for dependents.
• Family Formation Up to $300,000 in fertility and family-building support, covering IVF, surrogacy, egg freezing, and adoption.
• Retirement: 401(k) with 6% match and immediate vesting.
• Compensation: Industry-competitive compensation, company bonus, and equity for every employee.
• Gender-Affirming Care : Industry-leading gender-affirming offerings with up to 90% cost coverage, access to Included Health, monthly stipends for HRT, and more.
• Time Off & Rest Flexible vacation policy. Two company-wide rest weeks per year.
• Other Benefits: Monthly stipends for cell phone, internet, wellness, food, and commuting, breakfast/lunch

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed