Staff Software Engineer - Backend

Motive•San Francisco, CA

5d•$148,000 - $226,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At Motive, we’re not just looking for engineers—we’re seeking Superbuilders. As a Staff System Software Engineer, you will be at the forefront of designing and developing cutting-edge IoT platforms, turning ambitious visions into scalable, high-performance solutions. You thrive on solving complex technical challenges, mastering new technologies on the fly, and delivering pragmatic solutions that drive impact at scale. This role offers the opportunity to influence technical stack decisions, shape the company’s engineering roadmap, and work closely with the CTO. You will engage in high-impact workstreams with the freedom to innovate, taking ownership of projects across devices, cloud, and mobile platforms. If you are a self-starter with a data-driven mindset and an obsession for excellence, this is the role for you.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in software development, with deep expertise in either device, backend, cloud, or mobile platforms, and familiarity with others.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
Proficiency in Golang, Kotlin, and C++, with a track record of writing elegant, maintainable, and high-performance code.
Full Stack and Ecosystem understanding - from development and dependencies, modern best practices, to CI/CD understanding, cloud-native, and security-aware experience.
Experience working with analytics and observability from client to cloud, such as Snowflake and Redash reporting, Grafana and Datadog metrics, and agent methodologies.
A proven history of independent, ambitious project delivery in fast-paced environments.
Ability to rapidly master new technologies and adapt to ambiguity, whether it’s distributed systems including embedded devices, machine learning infrastructure, or front-end frameworks.
A strategic problem-solver who balances technical trade-offs with business impact.
Strong communication skills, capable of translating complex technical challenges into clear, actionable plans.
A natural leader with the conviction to push for the right technical solutions and challenge the status quo.

Responsibilities

Architect and Build: Design, develop, and optimize high-performance software and firmware for next-gen IoT platforms.
Turn Vision into Reality: Collaborate with executive and product teams to translate abstract ideas into actionable engineering plans.
Debug and Validate: Troubleshoot and optimize software on complex distributed systems, ensuring security, scalability, and resilience.
Develop Automated Testing: Create data test driven end to end simulation frameworks to validate system integrity at scale.
Adopt Cutting-Edge Tools: Leverage AI-powered coding tools to enhance productivity and drive innovation.
Lead by Example: Act as a technical mentor, fostering a culture of excellence, ownership, and pragmatism across the engineering team.
Iterate and Innovate: Embrace rapid iteration and experimentation, solving real-time problems and pivoting when necessary to achieve breakthrough results.