Senior/Staff Backend Software Engineer

GridCARE • Redwood City, CA

1d • $184,000 - $284,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

GridCARE is seeking an experienced Senior- to Staff-level product engineer with infrastructure instincts and a platform mindset. The engineer will build and operate a cloud-based system for managing data centers used by major AI compute providers. The role owns architecture, technical decisions, and production operation of mission-critical systems, with a strong emphasis on reliability, accuracy, and safely updating live customer infrastructure.

The position calls for depth in architecting, implementing, tuning, and debugging production real-time systems, with the opportunity to expand into broader platform and infrastructure ownership as GridCARE grows. It is a hybrid, in-office role based in Redwood City, California; candidates must currently be in the area or plan to relocate. The posted total salary range is $184,000–$284,000.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of experience architecting, implementing, and operating cloud-native, real-time backend systems that are highly available, reliable, secure, and scalable.
• Strong fundamentals in software architecture, distributed systems, concurrency, and security.
• Proficiency in at least one backend language, such as Python.
• Strong experience designing REST/gRPC APIs and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with time-series data, real-time streaming, and relational and non-relational databases; examples include Kafka, MQTT, and TimescaleDB.
• Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and production operations.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, CodeRabbit, Claude, GitHub Copilot, or similar.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to prioritize and work cross-functionally in a startup environment with limited guidance and evolving requirements.
• Currently located in the Redwood City area or planning to relocate.

Nice To Haves

• Passion for making a real difference in the world.
• Entrepreneurial self-starter focused on scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions.
• Background in energy, climate tech, power systems, or other complex infrastructure domains, including grid operations.
• Experience with industrial telemetry systems such as SCADA or Ignition.

Responsibilities

• Build a reliable, real-time, scalable, and secure cloud-native backend platform, including time-series data storage and retrieval, real-time streaming and event processing, and integrations with simulation, forecasting, optimization, and market modules.
• Design continuous deployment and safe update processes for live, mission-critical infrastructure to avoid disruption or unexpected side effects.
• Lead code quality and engineering excellence through automated testing, continuous deployment, CI/CD pipeline development, performance tuning, and system observability.
• Own architecture decisions focused on scalability, fault tolerance, cybersecurity, and suitability for on-premises control center deployments.
• Collaborate with data scientists, power systems engineers, and DevOps teams to move AI-driven solutions from prototype to production in mission-critical environments.
• Own services end to end, from design through deployment and ongoing operation.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits.
• Performance bonus and equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Lunch provided three days a week in the office.
• Hybrid schedule with three days in the office and two days remote.
• Access to leading academic, industry, and government partners in the AI-energy ecosystem.

What This Job Offers

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