Backend Software Engineer Job New York New York USA,Software Development

Position: Staff Backend Software Engineer
Location: New York

Kargo’s systems move fast and operate at scale — this role exists to make sure they hold up under both
The Staff Software Engineer owns technical direction across backend services and shared platform capabilities, translating ambiguous business needs into durable architecture and reliable execution
Without this role, complexity compounds silently and engineering teams lose the leverage they need to ship with confidence
Outcomes — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months:
Architecture is driving alignment, not slowing it down. Service boundaries, interfaces, and design patterns are clearly defined across multiple systems, and teams reference shared standards rather than solving the same problems independently
Major initiatives ship with operational integrity. At least one cross-team technical initiative moves from discovery through production rollout with strong observability, documented tradeoffs, and a clean post-launch record
Platform health is measurably improved. Structural weaknesses are identified and addressed — whether through targeted refactors, new reference implementations, or infrastructure investments — and the impact is visible in reliability or performance metrics
Engineering effectiveness goes up across teams. Tooling improvements, testing strategy, and documentation contributions reduce friction in the development cycle, and other engineers can point to concrete ways this role made their work easier
Senior engineers are growing into broader ownership. At least two engineers have expanded their scope or technical influence, with this role serving as a deliberate catalyst for that growth

Key Qualifications

Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-team technical initiatives from problem definition through production rollout
Deep proficiency in Go (or comparable systems/compiled language) with production experience building and operating large-scale distributed systems
Strong systems design fundamentals: APIs, service architecture, concurrency, data modeling, fault tolerance, and performance
Operational instincts across monitoring, debugging, incident response, and systemic follow-through
Hands‑on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS in production environments
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders
Familiarity with RTB, SSP, or auction systems — or other performance-sensitive distributed platforms where latency, throughput, and cost must be actively balanced
Experience building shared internal platforms or frameworks adopted across multiple engineering teams
Actively invests in the development of senior engineers, helping them take on broader technical ownership and influence
Identifies systemic risk early and makes sound calls on whether to patch, refactor, or redesign
Treats observability, incident management, and post-launch iteration as first‑class parts of the engineering process, not afterthoughts
Knows when to move fast, when to invest, and when to hold — and can articulate the reasoning to engineers and stakeholders alike
Establishes reusable patterns and reference implementations that other engineers actually adopt because they’re genuinely useful
Takes loosely defined product or business problems and produces clear, actionable technical plans without waiting for full clarity
Leads design reviews and technical discussions that bring teams to strong decisions without relying on formal authority or slowing down momentum
Stays close enough to the code to lead by example and make high‑leverage contributions when it counts

Core Competencies

Translates Ambiguity Into Direction
Raises the Bar Without Holding Court
Operates With Production Discipline
Grows the People Around Them

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