Backend Engineer

About this role

About Treeswift: In the face of rising threats, increasing pressure on affordability, and unprecedented demand for power, Treeswift empowers energy companies to modernize their field work to meet the growth and challenges ahead. We build physical AI for the field worker: whether on foot or in a vehicle, our technology is an ironman suit for engineers, linemen, and vegetation crews: same worker, same boots on the ground, now operating at 10x productivity. Our platform is powered by cutting edge hardware, sensors (LiDAR, camera, etc…), AI and software designed to revolutionize work in the toughest environments. Since our first pilot with a utility in June 2024, we've grown fast, now working with three of the five largest utilities in the US. To date, our technology has enabled our customers to reduce wildfire risk, regulatory and outage risk from vegetation, avoid delays and cost overruns in new construction, and accelerate recovery from severe storms. To tackle this challenge, we are bringing together a team of mission-driven experts with deep industry experience in robotics (Penn, Caltech, CMU) and enterprise software development (Palantir, Stripe, Oracle, MongoDB). We have raised funding from leading investors including Penny Pritzker’s Inspired Capital. We are headquartered in midtown Manhattan, with additional offices in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Our growth is only accelerating. We’re looking for deeply curious and highly ambitious people who want to have a real world impact. Come build the future of (field) work with us. About the role - Build and own the backend services and infrastructure behind our web platform, the system our utility customers rely on to act on the analytics we derive from field data. Our backend is primarily Python (Django) backed by PostgreSQL with geospatial capabilities, running on Kubernetes in AWS. You'll work across the full lifecycle: data modeling, API design, authentication, deployment, and operations. This is a role for someone who wants to own systems end-to-end and help scale a platform that is growing rapidly alongside our customer base. - Be comfortable engaging directly with our customers to help build product understanding. Thanks to our close partnerships with some of the largest and most complex utilities in the United Stated, you will have the opportunity to see the impact of your work in the real-world by observing users use our product on a daily basis. - Stay curious, collaborative, and cross-functional while also taking ownership of problems. We translate complex, real-world requirements from a critical industry into high-quality data products, so understanding the business holistically is key. We take pride in managing complexity and providing high-fidelity data that our customers can use to make better-informed decisions. What You'll Do - Design, build, and maintain the REST APIs that serve our React frontend and integrate with internal services, owning API design decisions and ensuring our OpenAPI specs stay accurate for frontend type generation - Develop and evolve our PostgreSQL data layer, including geospatial queries via PostGIS, schema migrations, and data modeling for complex domain objects like patrols, work orders, tree inspections, and geospatial boundaries - Own deployment and infrastructure for our backend services, including Docker containerization, Kubernetes deployments on AWS EKS, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code with Terraform/OpenTofu - Collaborate closely with the data platform and ML teams whose pipelines produce the data your APIs serve, and with frontend engineers who consume them daily. Experience / Skills - You have 7+ years of backend engineering experience building and operating production web services - You are proficient in Python and comfortable with Django's ORM, migrations, and middleware model (or a comparable framework like FastAPI) - You have experience with PostgreSQL or a solid understanding of database fundamentals: schema design, query optimization, migrations, and operational basics - You have hands-on experience with writing your code to run in Docker: containerized deployments, resource configuration, debugging pod issues, and working with CI/CD pipelines - You understand authentication and authorization patterns: OAuth2, OIDC, JWT validation, and session management - You communicate clearly across technical and non-technical teams and thrive in a collaborative, fast-moving environment Bonus Points For - Experience with Kubernetes and Terraform/OpenTofu - Experience with geospatial data (PostGIS, GeoJSON, GeoDjango) or domains involving sensor data - Experience with Keycloak or identity provider administration - Prior experience at an early-stage startup where you've had to build and iterate quickly with limited resources - Interest in utilities, infrastructure, and/or field operations and how software supports those domains. What We Value - Mission first. We value team members who are focused on working towards the best outcomes for the customer and the business. - Curiosity. We are constantly learning – from each other and from our customers. We aren't afraid to learn we were wrong in the process and adapt our approach accordingly. - Owner's mindset. If you see an opportunity for improvement, run with it. We believe that good ideas can come from anywhere, no matter your role. Benefits - Competitive salary and equity package - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your eligible dependents - Life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage - 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave to support all new parents - Flexible, unlimited paid time off - 401(k) retirement savings plan - Free OneMedical membership - Commuter benefits - Snacks, goodies, and team lunches provided twice a week to keep you fueled and connected with your colleagues. The estimated base salary range for this r