Staff Software Engineer I (Pod Architecture Team)

Compensation

$8,200–$9,700 USD per month (B2B), plus equity.

Benefits

• 100% remote work
• Paid holidays and flexible, take-it-as-you-need-it scheduled time off
• Culture focused on innovation and big ideas
• MacBook provided from day one, plus a $500 stipend for a home workspace
• Central European Time (CET) working hours for the Poland-based team
• Equity in a rapidly growing startup

Role Overview

As a Staff Software Engineer I on the Pod Architecture Team, you will help evolve the core application architecture to support continued growth. You will contribute to transforming a large Ruby monolith into a more scalable and resilient architecture, evaluating and applying approaches such as service extraction, sharding, and pod- or cell-based architecture.

You will develop deep knowledge of product domains, technical dependencies, and business context. Working with engineering teams, you will identify architectural patterns, guide technical decisions, support implementation, and advise on complex architectural tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable software solutions that support the evolution of the core application architecture
• Evaluate service extraction, sharding, and pod- or cell-based architecture based on product and platform needs
• Partner with engineering teams to understand product domains, system dependencies, technical constraints, and business requirements
• Guide architectural decisions and evaluate tradeoffs involving scalability, reliability, performance, and maintainability
• Develop technical patterns, prototypes, and implementation approaches for architectural transformation
• Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and cross-functional partners to align architecture with product and business objectives
• Review code and technical designs, providing actionable guidance to improve engineering quality and consistency
• Troubleshoot complex system issues and identify root causes across interconnected applications and services
• Document architectural decisions, patterns, dependencies, and technical guidance
• Mentor engineers and share architectural expertise across the organization

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with programming languages and frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, PHP, Python, or JavaScript
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent work experience
• Experience developing and maintaining large, complex production applications
• Experience with large monolithic applications and architectural transformations involving service extraction, sharding, or pod- or cell-based architecture
• Strong understanding of software architecture, system design, scalability, reliability, and performance
• Experience designing, building, and consuming REST APIs
• Experience with performance tuning, memory optimization, caching mechanisms, and CDNs
• Proficiency with version control and CI/CD practices
• Experience using AI tools and automation strategically to improve team efficiency or output quality

What Will Help You Succeed

• Ability to independently develop informed technical perspectives on complex and ambiguous systems
• Ability to influence architectural decisions and technical direction across teams without direct authority
• Strong systems thinking and curiosity about interactions among product domains, services, and platform components
• Proactive approach to researching and evaluating current and emerging technologies
• Comfort navigating ambiguity, changing priorities, and complex technical tradeoffs
• Breadth of cross-functional interests or depth of specialized mastery
• Resilience to learn from scratch and thrive in ambiguity

How We Work

The primary technology stack is Ruby. You will need to learn Ruby to be effective in this role. Onboarding support may include mentoring from experienced engineers or access to a paid online course that can be completed during working hours; the support format will be tailored based on your prior Ruby experience and the selection process.

The role is open to candidates in Poland. Compensation for the successful candidate is determined using permissible, non-discriminatory factors including skills, experience, and geographic location.