Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Paperless Post is looking for a few Senior Backend Engineers to help build and evolve the services that power our events management platform. You'll work across distributed systems and web infrastructure as part of a deeply collaborative team with a robust development process. As a senior member of the team, you'll bring technical depth, strong ownership, and a genuine care for the end user — understanding that we're not just shipping code, we're keeping our users' trust.

A little bit about us

The Paperless Post Engineering team, a highly collaborative group of developers and technologists, is charged with building and refining a consumer-facing product that millions of people interact with each month. Our individual feature teams each focus on a unique piece of the user experience and are made up of engineers, product managers, quality assurers, and product designers. We prioritize creativity and continuing education, and our ongoing commitment to quality code shows in our pragmatic but brave approach to technology.

Our engineers are increasingly working alongside AI, running tools like Claude Code across multiple streams of work at once. That means less time writing code by hand and more time on architecture, judgment, and the problems only people can solve. It's helped us increase our output this year while reducing deploy-related incidents compared to the same period last year.

What you bring to the table

• 6+ years of experience as a backend or full-stack engineer in an established codebase.
• Expert-level fluency in orchestrating agentic AI workflows; you leverage tools like Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot to manage multiple streams of work, shifting your focus from manual code generation to architectural strategy and technical execution.
• Extensive experience building and scaling distributed systems and web infrastructure.
• Expertise in developing RESTful APIs and maintaining SLAs.
• Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to influence architecture and articulate technical decisions across teams.
• A collaborative mindset that supports clear communication and constructive feedback.
• A passion for solving problems and building features for end users.
• A strong sense of ownership and accountability, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and follow through on commitments.
• Resourceful and proactive problem-solving, balancing quick iteration with practical solutions.
• Ability to mentor engineers and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.

Tech stack:

• Expertise in at least one statically typed language.
• Experience in Golang, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, Java, or similar technology is a must.
• Deep understanding of relational databases like Postgres.
• Expertise in maintaining CI/CD pipelines such as CircleCI.
• Expertise in software testing with unit and integration test suites such as Ginkgo and Gomega.
• Nice to have: expertise in TypeScript & React and proficiency in GraphQL.

Company-wide, we enjoy an amazing ecosystem of an even gender split and a balance of engineers and designers. Because Paperless Post isn't supported by ad revenue, we can focus our efforts on creating and improving on the ideal version of our platform, product, content, and partnerships for our users.

We are proud that Paperless Post has helped over 220 million people globally connect in the real world since our inception. Paperless Post exists to help all people celebrate all the moments that matter to them. We believe that having a team reflective of the diverse world around us empowers us to create a product that serves everyone. Women, people of color, trans/genderqueer individuals, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are especially encouraged to apply.

AI Usage Note

At Paperless Post, we value Being Resourceful, Progress Over Perfection, and being a Positive Force. Embracing thoughtful AI use is one way we put those values into practice. In our day-to-day work, we encourage teams to thoughtfully use AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Copilot to move faster and think more creatively.

During interviews, our recruiting team may use AI-powered note-taking tools so we can stay focused on the conversation.

However, our interviews are designed to understand each candidate's individual skills, problem-solving approach, and reasoning in real time. For that reason, unless explicitly requested and/or approved by the recruiting team, AI tools (including but not limited to generative AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, etc.) may not be used during any interview sessions, including but not limited to:

• Recruiting phone interviews
• Technical screens
• Live coding challenges
• System design interviews
• Take-home assignments

These conversations are intended to assess your independent thinking and technical depth. If we determine that AI tools were used without disclosure or approval during an interview, it may result in disqualification for the role and removal from the interview process.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations. This policy does not apply to approved accessibility or disability accommodations. If you require assistive technology or other support, please let the recruiting team know.

The compensation range for this role is $165,000 - $195,000 USD.

At Paperless Post, compensation is based on a number of factors, including geographic location, job-related skills, years of experience, and internal team banding. All full-time offer packages come with a base salary, equity component, and options for fully paid medical, dental, and vision benefits. The range posted here is based on the NYC market and may vary based on candidate location.

While this position is remote-friendly, we can only employ in the following locations: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Washington, Maine.