Head of Backend
About the Role
This is a senior engineering leadership role at a fast-growing B2B SaaS startup, focused on owning and scaling the backend platform. You'll join a small, high-performing development team and play a central role in shaping the architecture, reliability, and security of a microservices-based backend that directly powers the product experience.
What You'll Do
Expand, consolidate, and scale a microservices backend architecture.
Improve backend performance, reliability, and security across all services.
Design and develop REST APIs for both internal and external consumers.
Build and maintain integrations with third-party services and external APIs.
Create internal tooling to streamline development and operational workflows.
Define and contribute to software lifecycle and engineering best practices.
Proactively propose innovative features and backend solutions aligned with product goals.
Occasionally collaborate directly with customers to triage and reproduce bugs.
What We're Looking For
11+ years of backend development experience, with a strong background in distributed systems and microservices.
Hands-on proficiency with Go and Node.js; familiarity with PHP is a plus.
Experience designing and consuming REST APIs, including OAuth2 implementation.
Solid command of PostgreSQL or other relational databases, plus caching systems.
Proficiency with Unix-based systems, Docker, and Kubernetes.
Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as GCP or AWS.
Proven experience scaling infrastructure and implementing monitoring and logging solutions.
Strong git version control proficiency.
Security-conscious mindset with experience hardening backend services (nice to have).
Experience with third-party and external API integrations (nice to have).
Strong written and spoken English communication skills.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary range: $80,000 – $120,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.
Location
On-site in Canada. Candidates based in Canada are strongly preferred.