Director, Backend Engineering

Overview

As the Director of Backend Engineering, you will be pivotal in guiding the development of robust, scalable backend systems that power our innovative applications. This role requires a visionary leader with a deep understanding of backend architecture and a proven track record in managing engineering teams. For the interim, the role will report directly to the SVP of Product, leading a team of talented engineers, and working closely with Frontend, Product, QA, and Data teams to ensure seamless integration and performance across our entire technology stack. Your expertise will help shape the backbone of our products, ensuring they are reliable, efficient, and aligned with our company's objectives.

This position requires all hires to be onsite Monday - Thursday out of our Los Angeles (Playa Vista) office, with the option to WFH on Friday.
What You’ll Do

• Managing a team of backend engineers to deliver features needed by product and other engineering teams
• Working closely with product managers and other engineering teams to plan and budget work based on company priorities
• Make pragmatic decisions on software architecture and implementation
• Drive good engineering practices on the backend team and ensure team success
• Keep an efficient cloud infrastructure footprint and control cost

What It Takes

• 3 - 5 years experience with Elixir
• With 2 - 4 years experience with Phoenix, Oban, GenStage, and more
• 2 - 4 years experience with Postgres and Redis 
• 1+ year of experience with Prometheus, Grafana, and Sentry
• Full understanding of Git, GitHub and CircleCI
• Degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Math, or related quantitative field
• 6+ years of experience in backend engineering and engineering management
• Highly proficient in Elixir, SQL, Architecture, cloud computing (GCP, AWS)
• Experience with managing mix of onsite and remote engineering teams
• Experience working with leadership and other engineering managers on problem solving
• Strong structured problem solving and critical thinking skills when presented with ambiguous problems
• Strong collaboration, organization, and communication skills
• Familiarity with gaming (MOBAs and shooters are a plus)

Nice To Have

• Track record of delivering highly utilized and scaled backend solutions in the cloud
• Experience in optimizing cloud resources used by a high scale backend
• Experience in the gaming industry

What We Offer 

• Competitive salary: $180-230k
• Annual performance bonus
• Stock options program
• Unlimited paid vacation
• Option for employer paid coverage (Medical, Dental, Vision) plan
• 401(k) matching
• Gaming laptop and peripherals
• Company-wide team building events