About the role

Role Overview

Join Grindr as a Staff Backend Engineer. You will lead backend projects, design and develop scalable backend services, optimize platform performance, and mentor other engineers.

Responsibilities

Conceive, design, and develop Grindr’s backend services in a stable, scalable microservices architecture.
Lead projects and collaborate closely with product and design to deliver new features.
Optimize key parts of the platform using Redis, PostgreSQL, and Kafka on AWS.
Design and productionize large-scale distributed systems with strong attention to API design, data consistency, and high load.
Mentor and upskill less experienced developers.
Support areas such as trust & safety or security (where relevant).

Requirements

7+ years as a software engineer working on critical backend systems (service APIs, data processing, messaging).
Experience designing large-scale API systems for high load and data consistency in a microservices architecture.
Strong end-to-end problem solving and system understanding.
Passion for testing software and systems.
Experience with AWS-based cloud services.
JVM experience with at least one of: Java, Kotlin, Scala.
Deep understanding of concurrency concepts and trade-offs.

Nice-to-haves

Experience in trust & safety or security.
Production experience developing systems using Kotlin and Kafka.

About Grindr

Grindr is a leading social networking app serving the LGBTQ+ community. The company builds and operates large-scale consumer services with a focus on safety, scalability, and reliable backend infrastructure.