Staff Backend Engineer

Quick take: Axios is a respected media company dedicated to providing trustworthy, award-winning news content in an audience-first format. We're hiring a Staff Backend Engineer to join our Application Development organization!  

Why it matters: As a Staff Software Engineer you will be responsible for the evolution and maintenance of the backend architecture and services that enable Axios journalists to reach its readers through our editorial tools, website, newsletters, subscription services, and live events.   

Go deeper: This Engineer will oversee the evolution and maintenance of the technical architecture of our platform and core services. This involves spearheading technical initiatives and coordinating their implementation with our product, data, and infrastructure teams, while also developing and evangelizing engineering standards and principles across the organization. In this role, you will drive impact at Axios through the following responsibilities:

• Driving strategic platform initiatives, collaborating with application, data, and platform team members to ensure stable and performant application services.
• Establishing and aligning technical vision with engineering and product leadership.
• Working closely with product development teams to define and adopt engineering principles and standards
• Mentoring less experienced team members through pair programming, code review, and group learning sessions
• Proactively identifying technical debt and prioritizing its remediation with the development teams
• Staying up to date with industry trends, technologies, and best practices
• Evaluating and recommending new tools and technologies to improve the platform and developer experience
• Works closely with cross functional teams and business stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver solutions.
• Contributes to a culture of documentation, including platform architecture, processes, and workflows.

The details: Ideal candidate should have an entrepreneurial spirit, be highly collaborative, exhibit a passion for building technology products, and have the following qualifications:

• Experience building web-scale systems in languages such as (but not limited to) Golang, Python, and TypeScript
• Demonstrated staff-level expertise in proactive problem-solving and driving technical innovation.
• Track record of designing and building scalable systems
• Strong understanding of database concepts such as modeling, querying, and performance tuning.
• Proficient in diagnosing and resolving performance issues within complex, large-scale systems.
• Experience working on cloud-based infrastructure using AWS.
• Proficient in Agile Software Development methodologies.

Starting salary for this role is in the range of $155,000 - $190,000 and is dependent on numerous factors, including but not limited to location, work experience, and skills. This range does not include other compensation and benefits. Axios' compensation philosophy takes into account cost of labor differentials across the country. Because this is a remote-optional job posting, this salary range takes into account all possible locations within the United States, but candidates will only be eligible for the salary range for their location.

What Axios brings to the table besides salary:

• 401(k) with employer match
• Robust PPO and High Deductible health insurance options on the Blue Cross Blue Shield network
• Employer Health Savings Account (HSA) contribution for the high deductible health plan option
• Dental and vision coverage
• Primary caregiver 12-week paid leave
• Generous vacation policy, plus holidays
• One mental health day per quarter
• Annual learning and development stipend
• $100 monthly work-from-home stipend
• Tele-mental health services through Headspace
• OneMedical membership, including tele-health services
• Personal health advocacy resources through HealthAdvocate
• Inclusive fertility, hormonal health and family forming benefits through Carrot Fertility
• Access to the Axios “Family Fund”, which was created to allow employees to request financial support when facing financial hardship or emergencies
• Increased work flexibility for parents and caretakers
• Virtual company-sponsored social events
• A strong and positive work environment
• A commitment to an open, inclusive, and diverse work culture

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement 

Axios is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Axios makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.