Staff Backend Software Engineer

We are looking for a Staff Backend Software Engineer dedicated to designing and implementing robust backend solutions that support the scalability and functionality of our B2B music industry products and services. This role requires a deep understanding of software architecture and cloud-based technologies, along with the ability to mentor other engineers and lead by example in the adoption of best practices. The successful candidate will join the Staff+ Backend IC team and report directly to our Principle Backend Software Engineer. The team is collectively formulating Orfium’s Backend architectural principles. On a day to day basis, you will partner with an Engineering Director and contribute to the technical direction of several products and teams, while ensuring high standards of code quality and system performance. 

Responsibilities

• Architect & Design: Lead the design of scalable, complex systems that align with the company's technical roadmap and ensure high availability and performance.
• Lead & Drive: Lead cross-functional teams on large technical projects from inception to delivery, ensuring alignment with both technical and business objectives.
• Mentor & Grow: Provide mentorship to senior engineers and emerging technical leaders, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.
• Influence: Shape the company’s technical direction by influencing architectural decisions, technology choices, and engineering practices across teams.
• Align: Ensure technical alignment across multiple teams, coordinating with engineering leaders to maintain consistency and shared technical direction.
• Solve: Take ownership of solving the most complex technical challenges, ensuring system scalability, reliability, and performance optimization.
• Document & Communicate: Clearly document architectural decisions and communicate them to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strategize: Contribute to the company’s technical strategy, influencing the roadmap and long-term technical vision.
• Innovate: Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies, proposing new tools, frameworks, and methodologies that can benefit the organization.

Requirements

• Experience:
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in designing and scaling complex software systems in production environments.
• Extensive experience with system design and architecture, ensuring scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Strong experience with modern Web Development Frameworks (e.g., Django, FastAPI, Ruby on Rails, Spring, ExpressJS).
• Expertise in object-oriented development (e.g., Python, Ruby, Java, C#).
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and relational databases (preferably PostgreSQL).
• Leadership & Mentorship:
• Proven experience leading technical teams and mentoring engineers across multiple levels.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and collaborating with product, design, and other engineering teams.
• Technical Expertise:
• Deep understanding of software architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, event-driven architecture, CQRS).
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and distributed systems.
• Experience with DevOps practices and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong understanding of software development best practices, including CI/CD pipelines, TDD, auto-scaling and observability.
• Skills:
• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to influence at both the team and organizational levels.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Proven track record of solving large-scale technical challenges in a production environment.
• Ability to work across teams to ensure technical alignment and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a focus on high-level architecture and system-wide performance.

Nice to Have

• Expertise with cloud-native architectures and services (serverless, containers, microservices).
• Experience with ElasticSearch and data-intensive applications.
• Proficiency in asynchronous programming and high-performance, low-latency systems.
• Experience in developing real-time systems or working with streaming data pipelines.
• Passion for mentoring and building high-performance technical teams.
• Love for music and understanding of the music industry’s technical challenges.

Benefits

We are a global technology leader transforming the music and entertainment industry through advanced rights management and data solutions. With 700+ team members across offices in Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Athens, Sofia, Tokyo, and more, we partner with top-tier clients such as Sony Music Publishing, Warner Music Group, BBC, and Universal Music Publishing. Our mission is to help creators, rights holders, and media companies track, manage, and monetize content across platforms like YouTube and TikTok. At Orfium, you’ll join a passionate, international team of developers, designers, scientists, and music lovers, all working together in a flexible, hybrid environment where innovation, openness, and ownership are at the heart of everything we do. We are looking forward to meeting with you!

Benefits

💰 Competitive salary package and participation in our Stock Options plan

🏠 Hybrid work model with flexibility to support your lifestyle

🏥 Comprehensive private health and life insurance coverage

🌴 Extra paid time off to recharge and take care of yourself

💻 The latest tech equipment to support your productivity and creativity

🌍 A collaborative, inclusive, and international work environment

EEO / Accommodation

At Orfium, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and candidates—regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, please let us know. We’re here to ensure you have a comfortable and fair experience every step of the way.