The Mission We are looking for a battle-tested Senior Backend Engineer who thrives in high-velocity, 0-to-1 startup environments and builds distributed systems with extreme ownership. This is not an enterprise role for someone who works behind heavy layers of management or hides behind ticket boards. We are scaling a high-throughput, event-driven platform built on Golang, Node.js, Kafka, and GCP , and we need an engineer who can own features end-to-end—from initial system design to production deployment in Kubernetes. You must bring deep, real-world experience handling high-concurrency event streams and complex data layers. If you have a true startup builder's grit, take pride in high-impact coding exposure, and have the hands-on technical chops to conquer rigorous architectural assessments, we want to build with you. Key Responsibilities Core Distributed Backend Architecture: Design, write, and maintain high-throughput backend microservices utilizing Golang as your primary language, backed by Node.js (TypeScript) . Event-Driven & Kafka Mastery: Own and evolve our event-streaming infrastructure using Apache Kafka , handling complex partition strategies, message-ordering edge cases, and asynchronous workflows under heavy load. Database & In-Memory Performance: Architect, scale, and optimize core data layers with heavy reliance on Redis for caching/pub-sub and MongoDB for flexible document indexing. Production Deployment & Cloud Alignment: Deploy and manage your services within Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Kubernetes (K8s) environments, taking complete ownership of service reliability. 0-to-1 Feature Execution: Rapidly translate ambiguous product requirements into clean, scalable RESTful and GraphQL APIs without waiting for hand-holding. Algorithmic & Quantitative Problem Solving: Solve complex backend calculations natively within business logic (e.g., gaming mechanics, payout engines, or financial transaction loops). Requirements Dual-Language Proficiency (Golang + Node.js): 5+ years of deep backend engineering experience with elite Golang proficiency as your main tool, plus strong production experience in JavaScript/TypeScript (Node.js) . Proven Kafka Expertise: Extensive, hands-on experience architecting and maintaining production event streams using Apache Kafka . You understand consumer groups, offset management, message delivery guarantees, and race conditions. GCP & Kubernetes (K8s) Production Chops: Real-world experience deploying, running, and debugging containerized Go services within Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Kubernetes . High-Performance NoSQL Data: Advanced understanding of data modeling, caching strategies, and indexing in Redis and MongoDB . Startup / 0-to-1 Track Record: Prior experience working in small, fast-moving engineering teams or early-stage startups where high coding volume, self-direction, and end-to-end feature ownership were required. Assessment Readiness: Ability to pass a rigorous, hands-on technical assessment evaluating real-world Go concurrency, system design, and Kafka event handling. Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have) Quantitative/Math Aptitude: Strong mathematical background or intuition for solving complex calculation problems related to gaming ecosystems, mechanics, or financial data layers. AI & Automation Curiosity: Basic exposure to or interest in integrating LLMs, autonomous agentic workflows, or meta-prompting strategies into microservices. Timezone Alignment: Availability to align working hours between EST and Eastern Europe (EET) business hours for high-bandwidth engineering communication. Benefits Why Join Us? We offer more than just a standard software engineering seat; we offer the runway to drive the technical destiny of a global powerhouse. Extreme Architectural Sovereignty: We value raw execution, system health, and clean code over bureaucratic red tape. If your design framework is robust and ready, you deploy it. A Culture of High-Talent Momentum: Work alongside a highly competent, autonomous team that moves at lightspeed, actively supports your professional growth, and celebrates breakthroughs. High-Growth Upside: We value "potential over pedigree." For a Senior Software Engineer who takes relentless ownership of end-to-end problems and systematically scales our platform's capacity, there is a clear, unrestricted runway into senior architecture and engineering leadership.