Principal Backend Engineer

Your Company:As the Nonprofit Marketing Platform trusted by over 1,300 nonprofits, Feathr is purpose-built to help our customers unlock more results, time, and confidence. Feathr's software marketing platform equips nonprofits with the tools they need to build purposeful connections with their community and grow impact with confidence. We're working on building an amazing culture at Feathr, where amazing people (like you) can do their best work. If you're ready to grow and "help the helpers" you've come to the right place. But hey, don't take our word for it. Hear what current and former Flockers have to say about their experience.Principal Backend Engineer:Compensation Range: $145,000 - $165,000 base, and a bonus potential of up to 12%Benefits: Health, dental, vision, Summr and Wintr breaks, paid vacation and sick timeYour Work:Feathr's SaaS platform is a critical component of the value we deliver to our clients. As a Principal Backend Software Engineer, you shape the technical direction of the systems that meet the advertising, marketing, and analytics needs of our diverse customer base. You operate across teams and time horizons—identifying systemic risks before they become incidents, driving architectural decisions that compound over years, and raising the bar for engineering quality across the organization. You balance hands-on technical work with strategic influence, and your judgment is trusted to make the right tradeoffs when the path forward is ambiguous.Your Experience:6+ years of backend software engineering experience4+ years designing and operating distributed software systems at scaleTrack record of leading technical initiatives that span multiple teams or servicesDeep expertise in Python, Flask, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and RedisExperience defining and evolving engineering standards, practices, and tooling for an organizationProficiency with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor); we use these daily and consider them core to our workflowYour Technical Skills:Design and evaluate system architectures with a focus on reliability, scalability, and operational costDeep knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and their practical performance characteristicsExpert-level proficiency with Elasticsearch—schema design, query optimization, cluster operations, and scaling strategiesExpert-level proficiency with MongoDB—data modeling, aggregation pipelines, indexing strategies, and operational maintenance at scaleComprehensive knowledge of AWS infrastructure and services (EC2, EKS, SQS, S3, and beyond)Design and maintain event-driven architectures and data ingestion pipelines across diverse sourcesStrong understanding of security, compliance, and data governance in enterprise SaaS environmentsDefine testing strategies that balance coverage, speed, and maintainability across a multi-service codebaseIdentify and drive adoption of AI-assisted development practices that meaningfully improve team velocity and code qualityNice to have: Experience with Docker, self-hosted Drone CI/CD, Kubernetes, Helm, programmatic advertising platforms, or capacity planningYour Qualities:Pragmatic and customer-oriented—you build software to help customers solve real problems, and you help others do the sameA systems thinker who sees how individual decisions compound across a codebase, a team, and an organizationDecisive under ambiguity; you make sound technical calls with incomplete information and adjust when new facts emergeExceptional communicator; you translate between business strategy and technical architecture fluentlyA force multiplier—you make every engineer around you more effective through mentorship, code review, design feedback, and toolingOpinionated but open-minded; you advocate strongly for your position and change your mind when presented with better evidencePatient with people, impatient with systemic problems; you invest in long-term fixes over recurring workaroundsService-oriented; you build sustainable systems and sustainable teamsYour Day:Drive architectural decisions that affect the platform's reliability, scalability, and long-term maintainabilityDesign and implement high-impact backend features and services, particularly when the problem space is novel or ambiguousIdentify systemic technical risks and lead efforts to address them before they become criticalMentor senior and mid-level engineers through design reviews, pairing, and direct feedbackCollaborate with engineering leadership, product managers, and stakeholders to align technical strategy with business goalsSet and raise the bar for code quality, testing practices, and operational excellenceEvaluate build-vs-buy decisions, new technologies, and architectural patterns for the teamDebug the hardest production issues—the ones that cross service boundaries and resist simple explanationsEnsure the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of Feathr's data and operationsPlease note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.Compensation:Starting salary for this position is $145,000 annually depending on experience and credentials, with the potential to earn an additional 12% of base salary.In addition, you’ll receive health/dental/vision insurance, and other benefits like a professional development budget, office food, and social events, not to mention being a part of a supportive and motivated Professional Services team.Location:This role is open to remote candidates located within the United States, with a preference for those in the EST or CST time zones. There is also an option to work from our headquarters in Gainesville, FL.  If you aren’t familiar, Gainesville is a hip, mid-sized city with a highly innovative population and an attainable standard of living.Interview Process:As a part of our commitment to creating a fair, equitable, and positive interview experience for all candidates, we offer full transparency of our interview stages to give applicants an idea of the time and effort involved. Additionally, each interview stage consists of standardized questions and rubrics with a scoring system to ensure a consistent and fair assessment practice of all candidates. HR Information Screen - The Talent Acquisition Team will invite candidates that move forward to a 20-30 minute virtual interview. This conversation will be focused on relevant work experience, compensation, role overview, and answering any questions the candidate has.Hiring Manager Interview- 45 minute virtual meeting with to answer role-specific questions and dive deeper into your background and experience.Work Assignment - Candidates will be given a work assignment prompt to complete a project that is relevant to the work they can expect in the role. You are given ample amount of time to complete this project before turning in.Panel Interview - 1 hour interview with two to three key members of the team. This interview will dive deeper into the role, technical knowledge, and requirements of the position. You will also utilize this time to review any questions related to your work assignment.Offer - The Talent Acquisition Team will reach out with the details of the offer to discuss with the candidate.This is also the opportunity for candidates to provide any additional information or context if there are concerns surrounding their background check. Feathr believes candidates that have made it to this point in the interview process are truly talented individuals, and so we are open to dialoguing background screens before turning away candidates that have consistently excelled through the interview process.Interviewing at FeathrWe've prepared a comprehensive candidate resource that provides valuable insights and tips for interviewing at Feathr. It covers everything from common interview questions to helpful advice on how to make the most of your interview experience with us. Access the resource here.We encourage all applicants to take advantage of this resource to help prepare for their interviews and gain a deeper understanding of what to expect when applying to join our Flock.Benefits & Perks for full-time employeesWe love our Flock and the work they do! But let’s be honest, life isn’t just about work. So we created a perks and benefits package that aims to help our team grow by including their wellness, families, passions, and personal time. Full vision and dental, 99% health insuranceFlexible Work ScheduleSick time for when you need to take care of your physical or mental healthVacation Time Extended Summr + Wintr BreaksParental LeaveWellness Reimbursement CreditHome Office StipendProfessional Development BudgetTeam hangouts and events Culture:Feathr defines culture as the secret sauce that makes our flock members want to come to work everyday and do their best work. Like every company, we have an acronym that conveys the most important aspects of the culture we strive to have. Practicality: Progress Over PerfectionAmbition: When Feathr wins, We all winCandor: Better communication, Better resultsTrust: Assume the best, Share openlyService: We exist to fixThis acronym is only as useful as the integrity of the people who reference it and believe in it. Every person at Feathr will face challenges, the most important quality is a commitment to work through those challenges with self-awareness and honesty. Feathr is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all employees. So, however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, if you think you’d drive value in this position, please apply.