Backend Engineer

You’ll build and scale the systems that power Pocket’s AI experience, from real-time transcription pipelines to cloud sync and intelligent APIs.

You’ll work closely with our mobile and AI teams to make Pocket faster, more reliable, and infinitely scalable. This isn’t a founding role, but it’s core to the product. You’ll join a small, high-output team that ships at the level of world-class consumer tech companies.

What you'll own

Backend Development

• Design and build RESTful APIs in Node.js and TypeScript (Express.js or Nest.js).
• Architect and maintain PostgreSQL databases; optimize schema design and queries.
• Implement background jobs and queues using Redis for ingestion, summarization, and notifications.
• Build and maintain caching layers (Redis, CDN, HTTP cache) for low-latency responses.
• Implement authentication, authorization, and data privacy best practices.
• Add real-time capabilities (WebSockets, Server-Sent Events) for live sync and streaming.
• Build observability into every service: logging, metrics, and tracing by default.
• Deploy and manage backend services on AWS (EC2, ECS, RDS, S3, Lambda).

Systems & Architecture

• Design clean, maintainable service architectures with clear ownership boundaries.
• Plan and execute safe database migrations and schema evolutions.
• Ensure consistency and reliability across distributed systems.
• Optimize performance across I/O, CPU, and memory bottlenecks.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and release automation (GitHub Actions, Docker).
• Contribute to infrastructure reliability: scaling, monitoring, and cost efficiency.

Quality & Security

• Write unit, integration, and contract tests with clear coverage thresholds.
• Enforce linting, type safety, and static analysis as part of CI.
• Conduct security reviews and dependency audits; follow least-privilege design.
• Document services, endpoints, and decision trade-offs clearly.

What we're looking for

Technical Requirements

• 2+ years of backend experience with Node.js and TypeScript.
• Strong understanding of PostgreSQL (schema design, indexing, query optimization).
• Experience with Redis (caching, queues).
• Hands-on AWS experience (EC2, RDS, Lambda, ECS, S3).
• API design fluency: REST, real-time (WebSockets/SSE).
• Strong fundamentals in scalability, concurrency, and distributed systems.
• Comfort with Docker, Git workflows, and CI/CD automation.
• Familiarity with security and performance best practices.

Nice to Have

• Experience with GraphQL or gRPC.
• Exposure to event-driven architectures or microservices.
• Familiarity with observability tools (OpenTelemetry, CloudWatch, Sentry).
• Experience building for high-traffic consumer apps.

Technologies We Use

Backend: Node.js, TypeScript (Express/Nest.js), PostgreSQL, Redis

Cloud: AWS (EC2, RDS, Lambda, S3, ECS, CloudWatch)

Infra: Docker, GitHub Actions, CI/CD

What we offer

• Work directly with us and learn fast
• Direct impact on how the company operates day to day
• High-trust, high-responsibility environment
• Competitive compensation