Software Engineer - Backend, Standalone Apps Team

Meta•Menlo Park, CA

20h•$219,000 - $301,000

About The Position

We're Meta's Standalone Apps Team — we build new apps to reach new user scenarios and serve needs that aren't well met today. The project we're building right now is an image-and-text community where real people share first-hand experiences and recommendations — what to try, where to go, how to do something. It's where people come to get inspired and to make everyday decisions, learning from others who've actually been there. It's still early — a small team working 0→1. If you want high ownership, a short path from idea to ship, and the chance to shape a product from its first version, this is that kind of team. We're looking for a senior backend engineer to build the services behind the product. You'll design and own backend systems that power the app, make them reliable and fast as usage grows, and partner with client and ML engineers on the end-to-end experience.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
12+ years of software engineering experience, with significant time building backend/server systems
Strong grasp of distributed systems, data modeling, APIs, and service reliability
Track record of designing and shipping backend systems at scale
Experience leading the technical direction of a project and working independently with limited guidance

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
Experience taking a new product backend from 0→1
Experience with high-throughput, low-latency systems or social/consumer-scale data
Experience partnering closely with ML/recsys systems

Responsibilities

Design, build, and own backend services and APIs that power the core product.
Model data and design systems that stay reliable, fast, and cost-efficient as usage grows.
Set technical direction for major backend areas; raise the bar on quality, observability, and operational health.
Partner with client, ML, and product to deliver features end to end.
Mentor other engineers and improve how the team builds.