Lead Backend Engineer (Node.js)

Company Description

At Alertus, protecting people from harm is our mission and our passion. As the leader in mass notification, we are committed to providing customizable, scalable, and cost-effective solutions, as we know even a few seconds of warning can help save lives during an emergency.

Our employees are integral to the company’s success and impact countless people's lives, safety, and well-being. We aim for a positive, collaborative environment that allows employees to work across departments easily and effectively.

Job Description

In a world where information moves at the speed of light, the difference between a notification received and a notification lost can be critical. We are looking for aLead Backend Engineer to take ownership of our high-performance core responsible for delivering mass notifications via SMS, Email, Voice, Push, Slack, and IPAWS to thousands of users simultaneously. This isn't just about writing code; it’s about engineering resilience. You will be the architect of systems that cannot afford to fail, ensuring that every message reaches its destination with perfect reliability and industry-leading throughput. If you are driven by the challenge of optimizing distributed systems and building SaaS solutions that scale gracefully under usage spikes, your expertise will have a direct, tangible impact on our mission. Candidates must be located within driving distance to our Baltimore HQ.

A Day in the Life:

• Design and evolve a high-throughput notification engine capable of handling massive spikes in data without compromising on latency or reliability.
• Continuously refine system architecture to meet and exceed strict SLAs, ensuring the engine remains performant as our user base grows.
• Implement sophisticated monitoring, alerting, and self-healing protocols to identify and resolve bottlenecks before they impact our users.
• Set the standard for engineering excellence through high-quality code reviews, technical documentation, and proactive mentorship of the engineering team.
• Design and maintain high-performance database schemas and query structures optimized for rapid ingestion and retrieval of millions of notification records.
• Build and maintain robust API integrations and asynchronous communication pathways (message queues, event-driven architecture) across diverse notification channels.
• Transition high-level business requirements into technical roadmaps, focusing on modularity, security, and long-term maintainability.

Required Skills & Abilities:

• Deep, production-level expertise in Node.js, with a comprehensive understanding of its asynchronous nature and event-driven architecture.
• Proven experience designing and maintaining complex, multi-tenant SaaS environments that prioritize uptime and data integrity.
• Proven experience with both relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., Redis, DynamoDB, MongoDB) databases, specifically focusing on performance tuning, indexing strategies, and data modeling for scale.
• A strong background in distributed systems, including experience with message brokers (e.g., RabbitMQ, Kafka) and database optimization.
• Expert knowledge of monitoring tools and observability practices to ensure 24/7 system health.
• The ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders while fostering an inclusive, collaborative environment.
• Ability to travel on occasion.

Desired Skills:

• Experience working with IPAWS, telephony providers (Twilio, Vonage), or large-scale email delivery services.
• Proficiency with tools like Terraform or Pulumi to manage cloud infrastructure.
• Familiarity with compliance standards relevant to data transmission and privacy.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering or related field. Equivalent experience may substitute for education.
• 8+ years of related experience

Alertus Career Advantages:

• Unlimited Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans
• Short-term Disability, Accident, Hospital, and Cancer Insurance
• Live Near Your Work HomeBuying Incentive
• Employee Referral Bonuses
• Flex Scheduling

Pay: $120,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Referral program
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Baltimore, MD 21201