Sr Software Engineer - Backend

Overview

Build the Future At McGraw Hill, we are dedicated to delivering digital learning experiences that transform education for learners and educators. Our focus is on creating seamless, impactful products that truly benefit our users while supporting growth and collaboration across teams. We foster a culture that values innovation, teamwork, and a balance between career growth and personal well‑being.

We are a passionate, fast‑growing team within McGraw Hill, a global education technology company that is transforming the way students learn and succeed. Our new product has scaled from Minimum Loveable Product to hundreds of thousands of users, has been featured on the App Store, and has paying customers in its first year of launch.

We are seeking a Sr. Software Engineer (Backend) to architect and implement scalable, high‑performance, and secure server‑side solutions for our platform. In this role, you will define the technical direction of our back‑end systems, collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver impactful solutions, and mentor a team of developers. This position requires deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, and leadership experience to drive innovation and excellence in back‑end development.

As a Sr. Software Engineer on the backend team, you will have the opportunity to define and drive the evolution of our platform's back‑end systems, working alongside talented colleagues in a dynamic and purpose‑driven environment. If you are ready to bring your expertise and leadership to a team committed to excellence, we'd love to hear from you.

This is a remote position open to applicants authorized to work for any employer within the United States.

• Architecture & Development
  :
  Design, develop, and maintain highly scalable, secure, and efficient back‑end systems and APIs to support web and mobile applications.
• Collaboration
  :
  Partner with front‑end engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders to deliver seamless and robust platform functionality.
• Leadership
  :
  Mentor and lead a team of back‑end developers, providing guidance on technical challenges and fostering professional growth within the team.
• Code Quality
  :
  Ensure high‑quality, maintainable code through rigorous reviews, automated testing, and adherence to industry best practices.
• Optimization
  :
  Continuously optimize server performance, database queries, and overall system scalability and reliability.
• Strategic Alignment
  :
  Define back‑end engineering objectives that align with overall product and engineering strategies, ensuring long‑term platform success.
• Monitoring & Incident Management
  :
  Implement and maintain observability tools to monitor system performance and resolve incidents, including off‑hours support when needed.
• Continuous Improvement
  :
  Drive the adoption of modern tools, technologies, and methodologies to enhance development efficiency and team productivity.

• Bachelor's degree in related field or equivalent experience preferred.
• Minimum of 5+ years of applicable experience.
• Expertise in server‑side programming languages with preference in Go but open to Java, Node.js, Python.
• Strong proficiency in building RESTful and Graph
  
  QL APIs using frameworks like FastAPI, Flask, or Django.
• Solid understanding of API design principles, authentication, and authorization mechanisms (OAuth, JWT).
• Experience with relational and No
  
  SQL databases (Postgre
  
  SQL, Graph
  
  DB, Vector
  
  DB etc.).
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Knowledge of software development best practices, including version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing.
• Experience with AI/ML model integration, data pipelines, and MLOps workflows.
• Knowledge of message brokers and event‑driven architectures (Kafka, Rabbit
  
  MQ).

• Experience with infrastructure as code tools like Terraform or Cloud Formation.
• Experience with observability tools like New Relic, Datadog, or equivalent for performance monitoring.
• Strong knowledge of system performance optimization, caching strategies, and distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of web…