Staff Backend Engineer

Who you are Significant experience building and operating large-scale backend systems, with demonstrated technical leadership across teams Experience architecting and delivering live video systems supporting large audiences, ideally 100,000+ concurrent viewers Deep knowledge of live streaming technologies, including HLS, low-latency HLS, and WebRTC, and the trade-offs between latency, quality, reliability, and cost Experience diagnosing and improving streaming behavior, including buffering, adaptive bitrate delivery, stream failures, and the impact of packet loss Experience delivering broadcast and playback capabilities across web, iOS, and Android in partnership with client engineering teams Strong foundations in distributed systems, APIs, data storage, caching, queues, and event-driven architectures Experience evaluating and integrating video vendors, including understanding SDK limitations, quotas, scaling constraints, and pricing models A strong operational mindset, with experience defining video quality metrics, running load tests, debugging production issues, and supporting on-call coverage for live systems and major events Experience operating cloud-native systems using technologies such as AWS and Kubernetes Proficiency in Python, Go, or a similar backend language, with a commitment to hands-on engineering Ability to explain technical trade-offs clearly, guide cross-functional decisions, and translate ambiguous needs into a technical roadmap Experience mentoring engineers and establishing technical standards that improve system quality and team effectiveness We hire talented and passionate people from different backgrounds because workplace diversity and inclusion is critical to our ability to serve creators worldwide. If you're excited about a role but your past experience doesn't match every bullet point outlined above, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway. If you're a creator at heart, are energized by our mission, and share our company values, we'd love to hear from you What the job involves The Backend Platform team builds the foundational systems and infrastructure that power Patreon's creator platform We're responsible for the core backend services, APIs, databases, infrastructure, and developer tooling that enable product teams across the company to ship quickly, reliably, and at scale This team is growing and investing in foundational platform capabilities that will support Patreon's next phase of scale and product expansion As Patreon's first dedicated video engineer, you’ll shape the live video platform that connects creators with their communities You’ll combine strong backend engineering with deep streaming expertise to build reliable, high-quality live experiences at scale Lead the architecture and delivery of live video systems spanning ingest, transcoding, packaging, delivery, and playback Build scalable backend services and APIs that power live video experiences across web and mobile Improve end-to-end streaming latency, video quality, and reliability across devices and network conditions Drive video vendor evaluation, integration, and build-versus-buy decisions, balancing capabilities, cost, scale, and long-term flexibility Establish observability, quality metrics, service-level objectives, and load testing practices to prepare for major creator live events Own production reliability through incident response, debugging, capacity planning, and lasting improvements to system resilience Partner with product, infrastructure, web, and mobile engineers to shape a multi-quarter video roadmap that balances creator needs with architectural health Mentor engineers through hands-on collaboration and design reviews, growing video expertise within the team

Benefits

Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision plans are available to our US employees and their dependents. Our plans have a nationwide network and we also cover a primary care concierge membership. Balance & Wellness: We offer a generous Flexible Time Off policy, in addition to days throughout the year where everyone takes the same day off to recharge our batteries. Employees and their dependents also have access to therapy, coaching, and Employee Assistance Programs services. Family Planning: We provide 20 weeks of paid parental leave, fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits, as well as an annual stipend for new additions to your families (including pets!). Lifestyle & Learning: You’ll have stipends to fund your personal lifestyle and to support your favorite creators on Patreon, as well as an annual stipend for learning and development. Hybrid Work: Our offices are in San Francisco, New York, and Porto. Plus, we have more teammates working remotely around the world. Financial Support: We offer employer matching for our retirement plans and Health Savings Account (HSA), as well as access to 1:1 financial guidance with a Certified Financial Planner.