Senior Software Engineer (Backend)

Role Overview

As a Senior Software Engineer (Backend) at Sleeper, you will design and build core backend systems, optimize performance, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver low-latency, high-availability game experiences.

Key Missions

• Design and build core backend systems powering Sleeper’s games and real-time user experiences.
• Build scalable distributed systems capable of handling millions of concurrent users with low latency and high availability.
• Own backend initiatives end-to-end (concept to deployment), ensuring:
  • clean interfaces
  • well-documented services
  • resilient infrastructure

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain backend APIs and supporting data models.
• Improve system performance and reliability.
• Work closely with product and other engineering teams to deliver user-focused outcomes.

Requirements

• Strong product mindset (care about the why, design with users in mind).
• Comfortable designing and maintaining RESTful and/or GraphQL APIs.
• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• Solid knowledge of databases (SQL and NoSQL), caching strategies, and message queues (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub).
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Proficiency in one or more backend languages (e.g., Go, Python, Node.js, Java) and understanding trade-offs.
• Cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or similar), plus familiarity with Docker; Kubernetes is a plus.

Nice to Have

• Proficiency in Elixir.
• Passion for sports, gaming, or building multiplayer/real-time systems.