Senior Software Engineer - Web API Platform
About The Position
Scribd, Inc. is looking for a Senior Software Engineer, Web API Platform to help establish a company-wide API platform that accelerates web modernization. In this role, you will design, build, and own new product-facing web APIs that span our full web product surface across Scribd and Everand. These APIs will serve as the primary interface between modern web applications and existing backend systems, enabling teams to evolve toward more scalable, maintainable frontend architectures with confidence. This role offers the opportunity to design APIs intentionally with a focus on clear contracts, predictable performance, and strong observability, improving developer experience and enabling teams to ship faster and more safely. The Web Platform team will be the primary owner of product-facing web APIs. As the platform matures, the team will design, implement, and maintain the majority of new web APIs, while providing a stable foundation that other teams can integrate with and extend when appropriate. You will work closely with frontend and backend teams to define integration patterns, guide API usage, and ensure the platform scales with real-world data volumes and access patterns.
Requirements
- 6+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong backend or platform focus.
- Proven experience designing APIs for high-volume or data-intensive product workflows.
- Experience implementing and integrating APIs with a Ruby on Rails application.
- Familiarity with modern API paradigms (e.g., REST, GraphQL, gRPC), including their performance and operational tradeoffs.
- Experience with query patterns, caching, pagination, and common performance pitfalls.
- Experience designing APIs with explicit contracts, versioning, and testing strategies.
- Experience working with modern web frontends (e.g., React, Next.js, or similar).
- Strong communication skills and experience championing API design across teams.
- Strong ownership mindset.
- Pragmatic approach to system design, balancing ideal architecture with real-world constraints.
- Strong collaborator.
- Long-term perspective on maintainability, extensibility, and developer experience.
Nice To Haves
- Hands-on experience incorporating AI-assisted tools into development workflows (e.g., debugging, testing, documentation, or design exploration).
- Designed APIs where performance characteristics were explicit and intentional, not accidental.
- Consider observability, failure modes, and system health as part of API design, not afterthoughts.
- Comfortable placing thoughtful constraints on API consumers to protect scalability and developer experience.
- Treat APIs and developer tooling as products, not just infrastructure.
- Care deeply about how backend and API decisions impact end users.
- Enjoy greenfield work, while navigating integration with existing systems.
- Bring informed opinions and enjoy refining them through discussion and iteration.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and own new product-facing web APIs.
- Establish a company-wide API platform that accelerates web modernization.
- Work across the organization to reduce coupling, improve developer experience, and establish durable integration patterns between frontend experiences and backend systems.
- Define integration patterns, guide API usage, and ensure the platform scales with real-world data volumes and access patterns.
- Design APIs intentionally with a focus on clear contracts, predictable performance, and strong observability.
- Own API design and implementation from initial design through production, iteration, and long-term maintenance.
- Design performance-aware APIs with intentional constraints that scale safely.
- Collaborate with frontend & backend teams toward better performance and integration outcomes.
- Consider maintainability, extensibility, and developer experience from a long-term perspective.
- Incorporate AI-assisted tools into development workflows (e.g., debugging, testing, documentation, or design exploration).
Benefits
- Scribd Flex (flexible work model)
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
- Mental health support and disability coverage
- Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick time, holidays, winter break, volunteer time, and sabbaticals
- Paid parental leave and family support benefits
- Retirement matching and employee equity
- Learning and development programs and professional growth opportunities
- Wellness and home office stipends
- Complimentary access to the Scribd, Inc. suite of products
- Enterprise access to leading AI tools
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
