About the role

Role overview

Backend Engineer (Member of Technical Staff, API) on Runway’s core API team. You will build and optimize the critical backend infrastructure powering Runway’s public API and internal tools, owning the API lifecycle end to end.

Responsibilities

Own the full API lifecycle: design, build, deploy, monitor, optimize, and document
Design and implement asynchronous workflows for task orchestration, content moderation, prompt improvement, and post-processing pipelines
Optimize database queries and improve performance for a high-traffic PostgreSQL workload
Implement comprehensive API security and follow REST/API design patterns
Take end-to-end ownership including infrastructure, monitoring, logging, metrics, and incident response

Requirements

Experience architecting production-ready systems at scale using cloud primitives (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
3+ years building production APIs
Strong TypeScript experience
Experience with relational databases (Postgres preferred) and query optimization
Ability to rapidly prototype and iterate with tight product deadlines
Understanding of API design patterns, REST principles, and async workflows
Humility and open-mindedness; ability to learn from others

Nice to have

Passion for API development and owning systems end-to-end (infrastructure + observability + incident response)

About Runway

Runway is a cutting-edge platform used by millions of users. The role focuses on its core infrastructure—building and optimizing backend services that power a public API and internal tools.