Staff Software Engineer, Backend

Archer • San Jose, CA

1d • $175,000 - $215,000

About The Position

Archer is hiring a Staff Software Engineer, Backend for its AI Products organization, which builds consumer software for the general aviation industry. The role owns the backend for a mature consumer product with a large iOS and Android user base, high-volume real-time data, and a commercial API used by paying customers. The production backend is moving to new infrastructure, and this engineer will lead the migration while maintaining service continuity for users and API customers.

The engineer will own backend architecture, reliability, cost, on-call operations, and the roadmap. They will first learn the existing system and identify what is worth retaining, then design and build future data pipelines, APIs, and backend capabilities for new features. The role partners closely with mobile engineers on API contracts and product needs, maintains a fast, stable, documented commercial API, and helps hire and establish engineering standards as the team grows. AI-assisted development is the team default, with Claude Code used daily.

AI Products is an approximately 100-person software organization within Archer, with substantial growth expected over the next year. The products are early, while the consumer product this role supports is established and actively used. The position targets a base salary of $175,000 to $215,000, with actual compensation based on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Requirements

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, Aerospace Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, primarily in backend engineering.
• Prior ownership of a production backend.
• Experience leading at least one major migration on a live system with real users.
• Experience with high-volume or real-time data, such as streaming, ingestion, or time-series data.
• Strong opinions and expertise in API design.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure such as AWS or GCP, infrastructure as code, and monitoring.
• Ability to make and explain architecture decisions with incomplete information, including to non-engineers.
• Comfort using AI tools as a core part of development and judgment to identify incorrect output.

Nice To Haves

• Geospatial data experience.
• Experience operating a public or commercial API, including billing and rate limiting.
• Audio or media streaming experience.
• Aviation knowledge or a strong interest in aviation.
• Experience shipping in a regulated or safety-adjacent industry.

Responsibilities

• Own the backend end to end, including architecture, reliability, cost, on-call operations, and its roadmap.
• Plan and lead the migration of the existing production stack to new infrastructure while avoiding disruption to users and API customers; determine sequencing and when to roll back.
• Understand the current system before replacing components and identify parts worth retaining.
• Design and build new data pipelines, APIs, and backend capabilities for future features.
• Maintain the commercial API's performance, stability, and documentation for paying customers.
• Collaborate with iOS and Android engineers on API contracts and application needs.
• Help hire and establish the engineering bar as the team grows.
• Use AI-assisted development tools as a core part of the engineering workflow.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior