Lead Backend Engineer

Role Summary

We are looking for a senior, hands-on Backend Engineer to own and evolve the platform architecture. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer with strong architectural judgment, deep backend expertise, and the drive to build scalable, high-quality systems in a fast-paced startup environment.

You will play a key role in shaping the technology stack, designing robust APIs, ensuring system reliability and performance, and providing technical leadership as the engineering team grows.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & System Design

• Design, build, and own the backend architecture, including services, APIs, data models, and integrations.
• Define and enforce backend coding standards, architectural patterns, and best practices.
• Make critical decisions around database design, caching strategies, authentication flows, and scalability.

Hands-on Development

• Develop clean, efficient, and scalable server-side code (Node.js, TypeScript; NestJS preferred).
• Build and maintain robust APIs that power web, mobile, and internal tools.
• Implement integrations with payment gateways, channel managers, identity/KYC providers, and third-party services.
• Optimize backend performance, reliability, and uptime.

Technical Leadership

• Conduct code reviews and mentor engineers to maintain high engineering standards.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Project Management teams to deliver features efficiently.
• Lead technical planning, sprint estimations, and solution design discussions.

DevOps & Cloud

• Collaborate with DevOps teams to shape CI/CD pipelines and deployment strategies.
• Contribute to cloud architecture decisions (GCP preferred; AWS/Azure acceptable).
• Ensure effective observability, logging, and monitoring across backend systems.

Startup Mindset

• Move quickly, make pragmatic technical decisions, and adapt to ambiguity.
• Balance long-term architectural quality with fast delivery.
• Take end-to-end ownership from design through deployment and maintenance.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in server-side/backend development.
• Strong expertise in Node.js and TypeScript (NestJS is a strong plus).
• Proven experience designing and building APIs (REST required; GraphQL is a plus).
• Solid understanding of:
• SQL and NoSQL databases
• Caching systems (Redis or similar)
• Authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth)
• Queue systems and asynchronous processing
• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure).
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines and containerization (Docker).

Soft Skills

• Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and problem-solving ability.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Proven ability to mentor and guide junior engineers.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving startup environment.

Nice-to-Have

• Experience in booking platforms, e-commerce, marketplaces, or travel-tech.
• Experience with microservices or modular monolith architectures.
• Familiarity with mobile backend requirements.
• Experience working with design systems and PLG (Product-Led Growth) teams.

Job Type: Full-time

Application Question(s):

• Do you have 8 or more years of backend/server-side development experience?
• Do you have hands-on experience with Node.js and TypeScript in production environments?
• Have you designed and maintained scalable APIs (REST required; GraphQL optional)?
• Do you have experience with SQL and NoSQL databases, including performance optimization?
• Have you worked with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and CI/CD pipelines using Docker?
• Have you taken technical ownership or led backend architecture decisions in a startup or fast-paced environment?
• What is your Notice period in days?
• What is your current monthly salary?
• What is your expected monthly salary?
• What is your nationality?

Location:

• Riyadh (Required)