Staff Backend Engineer
Summary
Architect and scale high-performance ad-serving infrastructure for premium formats like video and brand creatives, using Kotlin/Java, Elasticsearch, and AWS.
About the role
Faire is seeking a technical leader to join the Ads Supply pod and scale our advertising infrastructure. You will architect high-performance systems for premium ad formats, including video and brand creative, while partnering with cross-functional teams to drive experimentation and growth.
Key facts
Location: Toronto, ON Engagement: Full-time, Hybrid (3 days per week in office) Salary: $190,500 - $262,000 per year plus equity and benefits Team: Ads Supply
What you'll do
- Design the end-to-end architecture for next-generation ad formats and a unified serving layer.
- Build automated systems for ad serving, optimization, and A/B testing.
- Develop framework-level solutions to accelerate the shipping of new ad formats.
- Prototype and experiment with new ad ideas based on market trends and user needs.
- Collaborate with Product, Design, and Data Science to deliver high-impact, cohesive solutions.
- Establish standards for availability, scalability, and operational excellence.
- Mentor engineers and promote a culture of technical ownership.
Requirements
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- 3+ years of experience as a technical leader for complex, cross-team projects.
- Expertise in building and scaling ad formats or user-facing content delivery systems.
- Proven track record of operating high-performance, low-latency backend systems at scale.
- Proficiency in using modern AI tooling within daily engineering workflows.
- Ability to translate ambiguous business problems into clear technical and product direction.
Nice to have
- Experience with cross-platform development.
- Background in building creative serving infrastructure for digital advertising, specifically for video or interactive formats.
- Knowledge of machine learning and generative AI applications in advertising, such as ranking, retrieval, and optimization.
Skills & tools
- Backend: Kotlin, Java 16, Hibernate, Guice, Jersey
- Search and data: Elasticsearch, FAISS, Redis, DynamoDB
- Communication: Protocol Buffers, HTTP, JSON
- Infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Buildkite, Datadog
Practical notes
This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days per week in the office (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and one flex day). Employees have the flexibility to work remotely for up to 4 weeks per year. Faire provides equal employment opportunities and offers reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities during the recruitment process.
