Senior Software Engineer, Backend

What You'll Do

• Design and build core backend systems that power Sleeper's games and real-time user experiences—fantasy contests, Sleeper Picks, user profiles, leaderboards, and more.
• Build scalable, distributed systems capable of handling millions of concurrent users with low latency and high availability.
• Own backend initiatives from concept to deployment, ensuring clean interfaces, well-documented services, and resilient infrastructure.
• Optimize system performance and proactively address bottlenecks through monitoring, profiling, and capacity planning.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and frontend teams to deliver features that users love.
• Contribute thoughtful code reviews and help strengthen backend engineering best practices and standards.

Who You Are

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• Proven ability to build and scale distributed systems that serve millions of users in real-time or gaming environments.
• Strong proficiency in one or more backend languages (Go, Python, Node.js, Java), and an understanding of trade-offs between them.
• Solid knowledge of databases (both SQL and NoSQL), caching strategies, and message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub).
• Comfortable designing and maintaining RESTful and/or GraphQL APIs, data models, and internal tooling.
• Cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or similar), with familiarity with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes a plus).
• Strong product mindset—you care about the why, not just the how, and you build with users in mind.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Bonus: Proficiency in Elixir Bonus: Passion for sports, gaming, or building multiplayer or real-time systems.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary ($170,000–$220,000/year not inclusive of stock options and benefits)
• Equity
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k)
• Generous PTO and flexible remote work policy
• Opportunities for fast career growth in a high-impact role