# Software Engineer - Backend

**Company:** [Motherduck](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/motherduck)
**Location:** Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA, New York, NY
**Role:** Backend Engineering
**Salary:** $140k – $250k/yr
**Skills:** Go, C++, Distributed Systems, API Design, Observability, Performance Optimization, Caching, Compute Provisioning, Fault Tolerance, Production Debugging
**Posted:** 2026-05-04

> Build scalable backend services in Go and C++ for DuckDB cloud platform, focusing on query execution, storage, access control, and performance optimization. Collaborate on architecture and resolve production issues in distributed systems environment.

## Job Description

## What You’ll Do
- Design and implement scalable backend services using **Go** and **C++**
- Build and evolve critical systems related to metadata, authentication, access control, query lifecycle, and file visibility
- Optimize for performance, reliability, and maintainability through careful design and operational rigor
- Collaborate with other engineers on architectural decisions and technical direction
- Investigate and resolve production issues and participate in a customer support or production oncall rotation
- Work closely with product and frontend teams to ensure backend systems enable complete and cohesive user experiences

## What We’re Looking For
- Hands-on experience with distributed systems, preferably using **Go**, **C++**, or similar languages
- A strong understanding of performance, latency, and fault tolerance in real-world production environments
- Familiarity with **API design**, **observability practices**, and production debugging
- A product-focused mindset and a willingness to dive into unfamiliar areas when needed
- Ability to communicate technical ideas clearly and collaborate across teams

## Example Projects
- Implement new database semantics to enable customer usage patterns
- Improve storage performance by developing and tuning caching layers
- Optimize compute provisioning to ensure no noisy neighbors impact customers while keeping infrastructure costs low

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**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/7aaeec9f-2f8d-4770-85aa-49c92a81aa37
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/7aaeec9f-2f8d-4770-85aa-49c92a81aa37