Lead Backend Engineer

Overview

We're looking for a Lead Backend Engineer. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Right Balance provides top-tier technology talent for innovative companies in the US. We’re in the top 50 companies to watch in LA. Engagement Details Our client improves the commerce experience by connecting brands, retailers, and consumers through beautiful, smart software. We love a good challenge, and we have fun achieving our goals. We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Backend Engineer with strong backend and DevOps expertise to design, build, and scale modern backend systems and cloud-native applications supporting headless and frontend applications. In this role, you will lead a scrum team, organize project progress, architect resilient high-performance services, and combine hands-on development with team leadership. What You'll Do: Lead a scrum team throughout the SDLC to ensure project goals are met on timeline and within spec. Design, develop, and maintain scalable headless applications using Python and backend services using TypeScript and Node.js (leveraging Serverless Framework and AWS). Design and optimize MongoDB data models, queries, and indexing strategies. Implement and optimize advanced search solutions (Lucene-based engines, Atlas Search, Elasticsearch, vector search, or similar). Define and maintain CI/CD pipelines supporting automated testing and deployment. Contribute to AWS infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation). Lead and participate in code reviews while promoting engineering best practices and maintainable architecture patterns. Availability: Full-time (40 hours a week)- Core hours between 8AM and 12PM Pacific Time, you'll need to be fully available for calls and full performance regardless of your timezone What’s in it for you? Learn and evolve your skills using the latest and greatest technology tools in a rapidly growing company. Learn from the best people around you. We constantly challenge the status quo and invent new ways of building a great product. Flexible hours. Join daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospective meetings. Other than that you’re in control of your own schedule. 100% remote. Work anywhere, whether it is remotely in the comfort of your home, in a shared co-working space, in an RV on the beach, or while being a nomad in another country. Work on challenging problems, innovate, and positively impact many people's lives while having fun doing it.

Required Qualifications

Upper-intermediate to fluent speaking and writing English . Able to have a real-time conversation. 8+ years of full-time hands-on Total Development experience. 8+ years of full-time hands-on Node.js, TypeScript and Python experience. 5+ years of full-time hands-on MongoDB experience. 5+ years of full-time hands-on AWS experience. 3+ years of full-time hands-on Terraform and/or CloudFormation experience. 3+ years of full-time hands-on Elasticsearch, Atlas Search, Lucene-based, or vector search experience. 3+ years of full-time hands-on CI/CD experience. 2+ years of full-time hands-on Tech Lead experience. Nice to Haves AWS or related cloud certifications. BS Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent experience. Frequently Asked Questions What are your typical clients? The majority of our clients are venture-backed startups at the growth stage. Usually, at this stage, the company already achieved a product-market fit and is looking to expand rapidly. That’s where we bring the best engineering practices, strong architecture, the latest technologies, and consistent processes to help companies scale. What is the length of your engagements? Most of our long-term full-time engagements last multiple years. It allows you to evolve your career with the client company taking on more responsibilities. What’s your company size? The Right Balance team is 55+ engineers going to 75+ by the end of the year. The current client size team is 26+ people. The timing is great to be a part of a rapidly growing team making meaningful contributions. What happens if the engagement is completed? Most of our engagements are long-term in nature. That said, if the current engagement is ramping down, we’ll present you with more long-term opportunities to transition into. What are your core values? Client First : we only win when our clients win. We treat client challenges as our own. Ownership : we embrace responsibility, taking on challenges, getting them to completion, and enjoying getting things done. Quality : we’re passionate about achieving quality outcomes by applying meticulous attention to detail.