Staff Backend Engineer

Arena Club

Software Engineering

San Francisco, CA, USA

Posted on Jul 3, 2026

Apply now

About The Role

We’re seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. You'll design, build, and ship across greenfield products and inherited systems with full accountability from scoping to production. This includes working on backend systems that directly impact product success and scalability: loyalty programs, architecture migration & modernization, real-time pricing and checkout, and localization for global expansion.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend applications and APIs using Node.js, TypeScript, Redis, Postgres, and BullMQ
• Leverage AI-powered coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) to improve development speed, code quality, and system reliability
• Architect and optimize systems for high scalability and performance as the business rapidly expands
• Implement third-party integrations and external APIs to enhance the platform’s capabilities
• Use feature flagging platforms to safely roll out, test, and monitor new backend capabilities in production
• Own production reliability through strong observability practices, including dashboards, custom metrics, alerting, distributed tracing, logging, and service-level monitoring
• Develop and maintain internal tools that support fulfillment operations, internal workflows, and machine learning initiatives
• Set backend engineering standards and guide architectural decisions to ensure long-term scalability, performance, and reliability
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers, shaping the culture and velocity of a growing team
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and frontend teams to ship high-impact features quickly
• Ensure backend systems are secure, well-documented, and thoroughly tested
  
  

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as a professional backend engineer
• Strong proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and Postgres
• Proven experience building and scaling eCommerce or online marketplace platforms
• Strong observability experience, including Datadog, custom metrics, dashboards, tracing, and alerting
• Experience with feature flagging, experimentation, and progressive rollouts
• Passion for using the latest AI coding tools and AI-driven best practices to enhance development workflows
• Deep understanding of cloud infrastructure, particularly AWS, and infrastructure-as-code tooling such as Terraform
• Experience setting engineering best practices, making architectural decisions, and influencing technical direction across teams
• Ability to move fast and iterate quickly in a startup environment while maintaining high engineering standards
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate technical trade- offs effectively
• Experience working with an in-house AI harness is preferred
  
  

Tech Stack

• Languages & Frameworks: TypeScript, Node.js, Python
• Database: Postgres, Redis
• Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (S3, SNS, SQS, etc.) and/or GCP, Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes (EKS)
• AI Development Tools: AI-powered coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), LLM-based development enhancements
  
  

The Arena Club Standard

Life at Arena Club isn't for the faint of heart, and that's by design. We're building products and experiences the collectibles world has never seen. This is a proving ground. It demands your best every single day, because anything less means you're falling behind.

From day one, you're in the game. Trusted to deliver, expected to own outcomes, and driven to raise the bar higher than you thought possible. We don't just execute, we innovate, compete, and win together.

If you want routine or predictability, you won't find it here. But if you're ambitious, relentless, and hungry to prove yourself on a team built to dominate — step into the arena. You'll discover growth and reward here, unlike anywhere else.

The base salary range listed is a guideline. Actual compensation is determined based on skills, experience, and the impact you bring. Total compensation includes base salary, bonus, and equity.

Salary Range

$220,000—$270,000 USD

Apply now

See more open positions at Arena Club

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend applications and APIs using Node.js, TypeScript, Redis, Postgres, and BullMQ
• Leverage AI-powered coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) to improve development speed, code quality, and system reliability
• Architect and optimize systems for high scalability and performance as the business rapidly expands
• Implement third-party integrations and external APIs to enhance the platform’s capabilities
• Use feature flagging platforms to safely roll out, test, and monitor new backend capabilities in production
• Own production reliability through strong observability practices, including dashboards, custom metrics, alerting, distributed tracing, logging, and service-level monitoring
• Develop and maintain internal tools that support fulfillment operations, internal workflows, and machine learning initiatives
• Set backend engineering standards and guide architectural decisions to ensure long-term scalability, performance, and reliability
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers, shaping the culture and velocity of a growing team
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and frontend teams to ship high-impact features quickly
• Ensure backend systems are secure, well-documented, and thoroughly tested
  
  

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as a professional backend engineer
• Strong proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and Postgres
• Proven experience building and scaling eCommerce or online marketplace platforms
• Strong observability experience, including Datadog, custom metrics, dashboards, tracing, and alerting
• Experience with feature flagging, experimentation, and progressive rollouts
• Passion for using the latest AI coding tools and AI-driven best practices to enhance development workflows
• Deep understanding of cloud infrastructure, particularly AWS, and infrastructure-as-code tooling such as Terraform
• Experience setting engineering best practices, making architectural decisions, and influencing technical direction across teams
• Ability to move fast and iterate quickly in a startup environment while maintaining high engineering standards
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate technical trade- offs effectively
• Experience working with an in-house AI harness is preferred
  
  

Tech Stack

• Languages & Frameworks: TypeScript, Node.js, Python
• Database: Postgres, Redis
• Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (S3, SNS, SQS, etc.) and/or GCP, Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes (EKS)
• AI Development Tools: AI-powered coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), LLM-based development enhancements
  
  

The Arena Club Standard

Life at Arena Club isn't for the faint of heart, and that's by design. We're building products and experiences the collectibles world has never seen. This is a proving ground. It demands your best every single day, because anything less means you're falling behind.

From day one, you're in the game. Trusted to deliver, expected to own outcomes, and driven to raise the bar higher than you thought possible. We don't just execute, we innovate, compete, and win together.

If you want routine or predictability, you won't find it here. But if you're ambitious, relentless, and hungry to prove yourself on a team built to dominate — step into the arena. You'll discover growth and reward here, unlike anywhere else.

The base salary range listed is a guideline. Actual compensation is determined based on skills, experience, and the impact you bring. Total compensation includes base salary, bonus, and equity.

Salary Range

$220,000—$270,000 USD