Software Engineer, Backend
Own and define the shared backend architecture, core services, data models, and APIs that power Mercor's rapidly scaling talent network and AI training products. Requires 8+ years backend engineering experience with a track record of organization-wide architectural ownership and complex migrations.
About the job
What You’ll Do
- Own the architecture of Mercor's shared backend systems—core services, data models, APIs, and cross-product infrastructure.
- Define and drive the long-term technical strategy for backend architecture across the organization.
- Design systems for scale, reliability, and evolvability, and lead the highest-stakes technical decisions and design reviews.
- Identify and pay down architectural debt that slows product teams, and lead complex cross-team migrations.
- Establish backend engineering standards, patterns, and best practices adopted across all product teams.
- Stay hands-on: prototype critical systems, ship production code, and unblock teams on their hardest technical problems.
- Mentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar across the engineering organization.
- Partner with engineering and product leadership on build-vs-buy decisions, platform investments, and technical hiring.
What We’re Looking For
- 8+ years of professional backend engineering experience, including 3+ years operating at a Senior level or above.
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, service architecture, data modeling, and API design at scale.
- A track record of owning architecture across multiple teams or an entire organization—and of decisions that aged well.
- Experience leading large, complex technical migrations in production without stopping the business.
- Strong opinions, loosely held: you drive alignment through technical judgment and clear writing, not authority.
- Fluent in using modern AI development tools (e.g. Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or similar) to improve engineering productivity.
- Experience mentoring senior engineers and raising the technical bar across an organization.
- Excellent communication skills—able to make complex tradeoffs legible to both engineers and leadership.
- High ownership, pragmatism, and a bias toward shipping.
Benefits
- Bi-annual performance bonus structure
- Generous equity grant vested over 4 years
- Up to $15k Relocation bonus
- $10K housing bonus (if you live within 0.5 miles of our office)
- $1.5K monthly stipend for meals
- Free Equinox membership
- $200 monthly laundry reimbursement
- $200 monthly personal wellness reimbursement
- Health, Dental, Vision insurance
Skills
Distributed Systems, Service Architecture, Data Modeling, API Design, Backend Engineering, Ai Development Tools, Cursor, Claude Code, Github Copilot
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