Analog - Senior Backend Engineer

• We're scaling fast, and we need someone who can own the hard architectural calls at the cloud-to-edge boundary without needing a large org around them to do it. You've built and run large-scale, in-production backend systems, you've made the real tradeoff decisions yourself (not just implemented someone else's design), and you can look at an ambiguous, half-defined problem and figure out what actually matters first. We're flat: no layers between you and the decision, no one to hand the hard problem up to. That's exactly why we need someone senior here, not less senior, there's no safety net of process to catch a bad call. • What you'll be working on • Architecting backend systems that move data reliably between our cloud systems and edge/device environments, across multiple network protocols, with real failure tolerance baked in • Making the core design calls on containerization and cloud-to-edge deployment patterns for systems that have to keep working when the network doesn't • Partnering directly with the engineers building the physical and product side to figure out what the backend architecture actually needs to support, often before the requirements are fully written down • Diagnosing and fixing hard, systemic production issues (latency, dropped connections, data consistency across unreliable links), not just patching symptoms • Raising the technical bar for the rest of the backend team as we scale, through the work itself, not through a title • What makes this role different • Most senior backend roles let you stay inside a clean, fully-online world. This one doesn't. The systems you design have to keep working when they're talking to something physical and real, not just another well-behaved service in the same data center, and you'll be the one making that call, with no layer of review standing between your decision and production. You'll work directly with the engineers and teams building the physical side of this, and your architectural decisions will show up in something you can walk over and watch work. • 7+ years of backend experience, including real ownership of large-scale, in-production systems end to end • Deep, hands-on experience in Java, Python, or Kotlin or others (fluent in at least two, able to reason across all three). • Proven track record of driving system design and architecture decisions yourself, including the tradeoffs and the pushback, not just executing someone else's design • Real experience with cloud services and edge compute, and with moving data reliably across multiple network protocols • Strong experience with containerized development and cloud-to-edge deployment patterns specifically • Comfortable operating with ambiguity and making the call without a large team or a fixed process to lean on • What we're not looking for • If you've mostly operated inside a large org with a clear path to escalate hard decisions, this will feel like missing scaffolding, here, you're the escalation. If your architecture experience is mostly advisory, reviewing other people's designs rather than making the call and living with it, that's a different role than this one. And if you're looking for a remote, async setup, we're an in-person team by choice, and that's part of how we move this fast.