As a Principal Backend Engineer, you will lead the architectural vision for ClickUp's collaboration platforms, tackle real-time system challenges, and mentor technical leaders.
ClickUp is revolutionizing the way the world works. As the only all-in-one productivity platform built from day one for true convergence, ClickUp unifies tasks, docs, chat, calendar, enterprise search, and more—supercharged by context-driven AI. While others scramble to bundle fragmented tools or bolt on AI, we anticipated this future and made it our foundation from the start. Headquartered in San Diego with a rapidly expanding global footprint, we empower over three million teams to break free from silos and reclaim their time—saving at least one day every week. Join ClickUp, one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies on the planet, and help millions of users transform the way they work. We’re not just building software. We’re shaping the future of work. Come join us in building the future—together. 🦄
ClickUp is a high-growth SaaS company building an all-in-one productivity platform. We've unified project management, document collaboration, chat, and more to help over 20 million users and thousands of teams work more efficiently. With over $300 million in ARR, we're scaling rapidly and solving complex technical problems to support our global user base.
The Opportunity:
At ClickUp, our real-time collaborative surfaces are at the heart of our product. We are looking for a pivotal technical visionary to own the architectural vision for these tools and set a new standard of performance and reliability for our enterprise customers.
This is fundamentally a distributed systems problem. You will be accountable for the core architecture that allows millions of concurrent users to collaborate with ultra-low latency. Your work will require a deep understanding of these real-time systems, including state consistency, concurrency models, and the trade-offs of CRDTs and operational transforms.
This isn't a role for a whiteboard architect. This is a hands-on stewardship opportunity to transform a complex, mature architecture into a world-class, unified platform. You will diagnose deep, cross-cutting root problems, design a pragmatic path to overhaul our core systems, and guide by doing. Your success will be measured by the tangible improvement in our product's performance and the lasting, positive impact you have on ClickUp’s engineering culture.
What You’ll Do:
- Own the long-term technical strategy for ClickUp’s core collaboration platforms, including real-time editing (RTE), live canvases, file uploads, and media streaming.
- Solve our most ambiguous architectural puzzles by diving deep across our full stack (Angular, Quill, WebSockets, Yjs, NodeJS, PostgreSQL, AWS).
- Cultivate operational excellence across the organization by implementing architectural patterns that improve the reliability of all our systems.
- Ship complex, multi-quarter initiatives that unify our collaborative surfaces and provide an innovative advantage in the enterprise market.
- Mentor the next generation of technical guides and elevate ClickUp's engineering culture through your guidance and influence.
Who You Are:
- You are a hands-on technical guide who thrives on solving complex problems that span frontend, backend, and infrastructure boundaries.
- You are a T-shaped engineer with deep expertise in at least one complex technical domain (e.g., real-time collaboration, media pipelines, distributed systems) and a proven ability to apply that depth to new areas.
- You don't just modernize legacy systems; you know how to transform them incrementally into scalable and maintainable platforms.
- You guide through influence, not authority. Your technical credibility and pragmatic communication allow you to align diverse stakeholders around a shared vision.
- You see a complex architecture not as a blocker, but as an opportunity to deliver transformative, lasting improvements.
- You have specific experience with collaborative technologies, which is a significant plus.
- You consistently solve the problems that others can't and are a catalyst for the teams you work with.
What We're Building Together:
As a rapidly scaling company, we are actively maturing our engineering practices. We are not looking for someone to simply fit into our culture; we are looking for a leader to help us build it.
- We build with intention. We believe that moving fast is about being iterative, pragmatic, and focused. You will advocate for clear engineering roadmaps and thoughtful planning to shield your teams from whiplash and create a stable environment for deep work.
- We trust our engineers with deep ownership and the empowerment to manage their work and time. We are looking for guides who can help us define and measure what truly matters: the impact we deliver to our users. You will foster a culture where quality and long-term value are prized above all else.
- You will be a key player in technical and professional growth in our teams. Your stewardship will be critical in creating a high-trust environment where engineers can take smart risks, have candid conversations, and learn from failures without fear of blame.
#LI-REMOTE
#LI-MAV
Salary and Benefits
At ClickUp, we believe in transparency and fairness in compensation. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Please note that the actual compensation for this position may vary and is dependent on factors such as geographic location, interview performance, years of experience, education level, and specific skills. We encourage candidates to discuss compensation expectations during the interview process to ensure alignment with their qualifications and our company’s compensation philosophy.
This position is eligible for the following benefits and perks:
- Equity
- 401k
- Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Spending accounts
- Life & Disability
- Paid parental leave
- Flexible paid time off
- Enhanced employee assistance program
- Employee wellness stipend
- Professional development stipend
USA Salary Range (OTE)
$250,000—$290,000 USD
Unsure if you meet all the qualifications of this job description but are deeply excited about the role? We hire based on ambition, grit, and a passion for improving the way people work. If you think ClickUp is the company for you, we encourage you to apply!
At ClickUp, we assess every candidate based on the potential impact they can have. We hire the best people for the job and support each person’s journey to build their boldest career.
ClickUp is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
ClickUp collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
- If you are a European Job Applicant, see our privacy policy for further details.
- If you are a Philippine Job Applicant, see our privacy policy and our Philippine Data Privacy Notice for further details.
Please note we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for roles outside of engineering and product at this time. Sponsorship for engineering and product roles is not guaranteed, but is instead based on the business needs for that specific role at that time. Please reach out to the recruiter with any questions.
ClickUp Talent Acquisition will only initiate contact via an @clickup.com email or through our official careers portal on clickup.com. We will never request fees, payments, or sensitive personal information. Please disregard any offers received outside these channels and report them to [email protected].
Top Skills
Angular
AWS
Node.js
Postgres
Quill
Websockets
Yjs
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