Signalfire · Remote

Founding Backend Software Engineer (Senior/Staff) - VC Backed Startups at Signalfire — Remote

Full-timeRemote$170,000–$250,000/yearPosted 2026-08-05Apply on Ashby

Full job description

## Join SignalFire’s Talent Network for Founding Back-end Software Engineer Roles at VC-Backed Startups

We’re looking to connect with exceptional Founding Backend Engineers who are excited about building scalable, high-performance systems at early-stage startups. By joining SignalFire’s Talent Network, your profile will be shared with our portfolio companies, giving you visibility into exclusive early-stage opportunities that may not be publicly listed.

## Who Should Join?

We’re looking for engineers who are: ✔ Passionate about backend architecture and scalable distributed systems ✔ Excited about joining early-stage startups and working directly with founders ✔ Interested in building APIs, microservices, and cloud infrastructure

## Typical Roles & Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and maintain backend systems with a focus on scalability and performance
  • Develop high-performance APIs, microservices, and cloud-based architectures
  • Optimize databases and data pipelines for reliability and efficiency
  • Collaborate with founders to define technical strategy and align it with business goals
  • Ensure backend infrastructure is secure, fault-tolerant, and cost-efficient
  • Establish best practices for software development, DevOps, and infrastructure management

## Common Qualifications

While each startup has its own hiring criteria, many founding backend engineering roles in our network look for:

  • 3+ years of experience as a backend engineer, with a proven track record of shipping production systems
  • Expertise in backend frameworks (Node.js, Django, Flask, Ruby on Rails, FastAPI, Spring Boot)
  • Strong understanding of databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis) and data modeling
  • Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Proficiency in backend programming languages such as Python, Go, Java, Node.js, or Ruby
  • Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code tools
  • Experience in early-stage startups or lean teams is a plus

## 💡 Technologies You Might Work With:

  • Languages & Frameworks: Python, Golang, Java, JavaScript (Node.js), Ruby, Django, Flask, FastAPI, Ruby on Rails, Spring Boot
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis
  • Cloud & DevOps: AWS (Lambda, EC2, S3, RDS), GCP (Cloud Run, Firestore), Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, GitHub Actions
  • Other Tools: REST APIs, GraphQL, WebSockets, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Elasticsearch

## What Happens Next?

  • Submit your application to join SignalFire’s Talent Ecosystem.
  • We review applications on an ongoing basis to identify strong candidates.
  • If there’s a match, a SignalFire talent partner or a leader from one of our startups may reach out directly.
  • No match yet? We’ll keep your profile on file for future backend engineering roles in our portfolio.

Required skills

  • amazon web services
  • python
  • node.js
  • terraform
  • kafka
  • aws rds
  • shipping
  • kubernetes
  • flask
  • rails