Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Backend (US - Remote or Calgary)

We are hiring a Senior or Staff level Backend Engineer to join our core platform engineering group. In this high-autonomy role on a focused team, you will design, build, and scale high-throughput distributed systems that power our core backend services. You will own systems end-to-end - from API design and data modeling to deploying resilient infrastructure and monitoring performance in production.

• Design, ship, and operate core distributed microservices written in Go and Python.
• Build real-time event streaming and data processing pipelines using Kafka.
• Architect performant, flexible API interfaces across REST, GraphQL, and gRPC protocols.
• Design efficient schemas and optimize query performance for relational storage using Postgres and modern ORMs.
• Provision, maintain, and scale cloud infrastructure across GCP and AWS using Terraform and GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines.
• Ensure high reliability, low latency, and operational visibility across backend systems using Datadog

• 7+ years building and operating backend systems in production.
• Deep comfort with Go and Python, with strong experience building concurrent, high-performance systems.
• Strong database fundamentals with Postgres and relational ORMs, including query optimization and schema migration strategies.
• Experience building and maintaining event-driven architectures with Kafka.
• Expertise designing production APIs across REST, GraphQL, or gRPC.
• Hands-on experience with cloud environments (GCP and/or AWS), Infrastructure as Code via Terraform, and continuous delivery via GitHub Actions.
• Operational mindset: familiarity with observability, distributed tracing, and metrics tooling in Datadog.
• Strong written communication to author design docs and lead clear PR reviews.
• Own a technical domain with light supervision: propose direction in writing with clear specs, take review, ship, and carry the pager for what you shipped.

• 💰 Competitive Compensation. For this role our salary is targeted at $180-210k USD or $175-205k CAD per year. Final offer amounts are determined by factors such as experience and expertise. 
• 🏆  Syndio Equity. So you can share in Syndio’s success
• 🏝  Flexible Vacation Policy. We encourage our team to recharge when they need to (up to 20 days PTO in Canada) plus paid sick & safe time, compassion leave, and voting leave. 
• 🩺  Medical, Dental, Vision. Syndio pays 90% of employee premiums, and 50% for dependents.
• 🏥  Life Insurance & Disability. Syndio covers the full premium.
• 📍Remote-first in US + Alberta; in Calgary, non-mandatory office available #LI-Remote 

• First 30 days: Onboard into our development workflow, master core platform architecture, and ship your first feature.
• First 60 days: Independently own sub-systems, optimize Postgres/ORM data paths, and manage cloud infrastructure updates via Terraform.
• First 90 days: Lead the design and implementation of a major event-driven or API capability end-to-end and take on-call responsibilities for platform services

Below you'll find an outline of the interview plan for our Senior / Staff Software Engineer (Backend) position. Please note that this is what we expect the process to look like; we may ask you for supplemental information or require an additional step before making a final decision.

1. Recruiter Screen (25 min)
2. Meet the Hiring Manager (30 min)
3. Technical Discussion – Systems & Data Architecture (60 min)
4. Practical Coding & API Design Exercise Review (60 min)
5. Product Interview (30 min) 
6. Executive Interview (30 min)