Software Engineer - Backend

Stack

Responsibilities

• ▹Design and build the backend systems and services that power Sesame's product: own data models, APIs, and distributed systems
• ▹Write software that's built to last, solving hard problems that require careful thinking about scalability, reliability, and correctness
• ▹Build and evolve the frameworks and libraries other engineers build on
• ▹Own the full lifecycle of your services: schema design, implementation, deployment, performance tuning, on-call
• ▹Work across the data layer: relational databases, NoSQL, queues, caches, search indexes
• ▹Identify and fix performance bottlenecks, treating cost, throughput, and latency as first-class concerns
• ▹Own the architecture of systems where ML models are a critical but not sole component
• ▹Spot opportunities to improve developer efficiency in your area

Requirements

• ▹A strong programmer first, expert-level in at least one language, writing clean, well-designed code
• ▹Solid distributed systems fundamentals: system models, failure modes, consistency tradeoffs, scaling strategies
• ▹Experience designing and building systems that handle real scale: caching layers, sharded data stores, async pipelines, shared-nothing architectures
• ▹Strong database engineering skills: complex schemas, query tuning, data modeling across relational and non-relational stores
• ▹Comfortable with application-level protocols and networking: REST, WebSockets, gRPC, HTTP semantics
• ▹Deploys and runs services on Kubernetes
• ▹Proven reliability engineering instincts, including on-call experience
• ▹A genuine deep interest in some area of software (software design, CRDTs, real-time systems, database internals, etc.)

Nice to have

• ▹Hands-on experience in one or more domains: payments (billing, transaction processing, ledgers), search and relevance (infrastructure, ranking, indexing), real-time media (streaming, low-latency audio/video)
• ▹Deep Python expertise: maintainable, performant, scalable code
• ▹Experience building on GCP

Soft skills

What we offer

• ▹401(k) with employer match up to 3.5% of compensation
• ▹100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental coverage for you and your dependents
• ▹Unlimited PTO and sick time
• ▹Flexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year
• ▹Guardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• ▹Opportunity to share in the company's success through competitive stock options

About the company

Sesame is building a future where computers are lifelike — able to see, hear, and collaborate with us in natural, human ways. The team brings together founders from Oculus and Ubiquity6 alongside proven leaders from Meta, Google, and Apple, spanning deep hardware and software expertise.