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# Team Lead Backend Engineer

- **Company:** HockeyStack, Inc.
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $200,000.0 - $240,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Big Data, Software Quality, Distributed Systems, Node.Js, Query Optimization, Systems Integration, Management of Software Versions, Backend, Front End Software Development, Vertica, Api Design, Api Management
- **Published:** September 4, 2026
- **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/team-lead-backend-engineer-core-applications-hockeystack-8129220

## About the Role

* Ownership-first mindset - you take initiative, move fast, and figure things out
 * Thrive in early-stage, high-urgency environments where speed and impact matter
 * Fully committed to working in-person 5 days/week at our SF HQ
 * Curious, self-aware, and feedback-driven - you bring energy, not ego
 * See this role as a defining chapter - not a stepping stone or side quest
 * 5+ years of backend engineering experience, ideally with exposure to high-scale systems.
 * Deep experience with modern backend stacks - we use Node.js, ClickHouse and AWS
 * Strong understanding of API design principles, query optimization, and distributed systems.
 * You've worked with large-scale data systems (think TBs of data) and know how to manage performance, cost, and uptime at scale.
 * Startup mindset - you move fast, figure things out, and don't wait to be told what to do.
 * Comfortable owning ambiguity - you define the problem, architect the solution, and ship the result.

## Description

* Lead the design and development of APIs that expose GTM data to internal and external users.
 * Own end-to-end architecture for large-scale data access patterns, optimizing for performance, cost, and reliability.
 * Collaborate closely with AI, data, and frontend teams to ensure seamless integrations and clean API contracts.
 * Tackle complex problems like versioning, rate-limiting, auth, query complexity, and cache invalidation across a fast-evolving product surface.
 * Build internal tooling to improve engineering velocity and observability for our backend systems.
 * Drive engineering best practices, code quality, and testing in a fast-paced, high-output environment.
 * Mentor engineers and set the technical direction for the team.


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