Senior Software Engineer – Backend

Job description

SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, BACKEND — SYSTEMS & INFRASTRUCTURE San Francisco, CA · In Person · Full-Time ABOUT VIZCOM Vizcom is building the future of industrial design. Our mission is to reshape the design process by streamlining the path from concept to creation, helping designers bring more impactful ideas into the physical world. Design teams at companies like Nike, GM, New Balance, and Hasbro use Vizcom to move from early concepts and sketches through rendering, visualization, and 3D exploration. We're a Series B company with more than $51M raised and are continuing to expand our engineering team in San Francisco. The technical surface area is broad: real-time collaboration, GPU inference at scale, distributed systems, enterprise infrastructure, and a modern TypeScript stack supporting professional design teams every day. THE ROLE As a Senior Software Engineer, Backend — Systems & Infrastructure, you'll architect and build the backend systems that keep Vizcom fast, reliable, and scalable as our product and customer base grow. You'll work across systems including GPU workload orchestration, GraphQL performance, real-time event infrastructure, caching, data integrity, and observability. This is a high-ownership engineering role. You'll be responsible not only for building systems, but also for understanding how they behave in production, identifying bottlenecks, improving reliability, and helping shape the technical decisions that allow Vizcom to scale. You'll collaborate closely with frontend, infrastructure, and AI engineers to turn complex technical systems into fast, seamless experiences for designers. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design and implement scalable APIs using TypeScript/Node, GraphQL, and Postgres. - Profile and optimize performance across queries, resolvers, I/O, and other critical backend paths. - Build and operate distributed systems, including job queues, streaming infrastructure, caching, and background workers. - Partner with AI engineers to integrate GPU inference pipelines into production user workflows. - Build and improve real-time systems supporting collaborative product experiences. - Strengthen reliability through observability, incident reviews, testing, CI/CD, and deployment improvements. - Design secure systems that maintain appropriate data boundaries across customers and enterprise environments. - Write technical RFCs and contribute to architectural decisions as the platform evolves. - Mentor teammates on backend architecture, testing, reliability, and performance. THE PROBLEMS YOU'LL TACKLE You'll work on problems such as: - Distributed GPU inference: Managing queueing, scheduling, and performance across bursty GPU workloads. - Real-time collaboration: Building synchronization systems using technologies such as WebSockets and CRDT-based collaboration. - GraphQL performance: Improving caching, batching, resolver performance, and database access patterns. - Scale and reliability: Identifying bottlenecks and designing systems that continue to perform as usage grows. - Enterprise infrastructure: Supporting secure multi-tenant data boundaries and enterprise integrations including SSO, SAML, and SCIM. - Observability: Making it easier to understand system behavior, identify failures, and resolve production issues quickly. WHAT YOUR FIRST 90 DAYS COULD LOOK LIKE Days 1–30: Understand Learn the architecture, production environment, critical backend systems, performance characteristics, and how our engineering team builds and operates software. Days 30–60: Ship Take ownership of and ship a meaningful backend or infrastructure improvement, such as a model queue, caching layer, real-time service, or performance optimization. Days 60–90: Improve the system Identify a meaningful architectural, performance, or reliability opportunity and drive it forward. This could include reducing latency on a critical API path, improving observability, or authoring an RFC that shapes how a core system evolves. The specific problems may change as the product and infrastructure evolve. What matters is that you're able to identify high-leverage opportunities and own them through production. OUR STACK TODAY - Frontend: TypeScript, React, Vite, WebGL, and real-time collaboration - API & Backend: TypeScript/Node, GraphQL (PostGraphile), Postgres, Redis, and background workers - Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Pulumi, GitHub Actions, and CI/CD - Observability: Datadog - Security & Enterprise: WorkOS, SSO/SAML, and enterprise security infrastructure Experience with every technology in our stack isn't required. We're more interested in strong engineering fundamentals and your ability to understand, improve, and help shape complex systems. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 5–8+ years of experience building and operating production software systems. - Strong backend engineering experience using TypeScript/Node or comparable technologies. - Deep understanding of databases, data modeling, query optimization, and performance tuning. - Experience designing or operating distributed systems. - Experience with Kubernetes or comparable container orchestration environments. - Fluency with observability, monitoring, and debugging production systems. - Strong understanding of reliability and the operational considerations of running production software. - Experience making architectural decisions and communicating technical tradeoffs clearly. - Comfort taking ownership of ambiguous technical problems from design through production. NICE TO HAVE - Experience with GPU workloads or inference infrastructure. - Experience building job queueing or background processing systems. - Experience with real-time or collaborative application architecture. - Experience optimizing GraphQL at scale. - Experience with enterprise identity systems such as SSO, SAML, or SCIM. - Experience working in a high-growth startup environment. HOW WE WORK - Small team, high ownership: We believe in fewer people with meaningful scope and responsibility. - Design-centric: Performance and product experience matter. We care deeply about how the systems we build ultimately feel to the people using them. - Write it down: We use RFCs, clear technical decisions, and living documentation to keep teams aligned. - Operate what you build: Engineers participate in on-call support and take responsibility for the systems they ship. - Learn from incidents: Production issues are opportunities to improve our systems and processes, not assign blame. BENEFITS AT VIZCOM - 100% employer-sponsored medical coverage for employees, plus 25% coverage toward dependents - Dental and vision coverage, plus mental health benefits - Meaningful equity ownership - Flexible PTO - 401(k) with employer match - Generous annual Learning & Development allowance - Paid parental leave - Weekly catered lunch at our San Francisco headquarters - Monthly gym membership stipend COMPENSATION Base salary: $195,000–$225,000 USD + equity We regularly benchmark compensation against relevant peer companies using current market data from industry-standard sources, including Carta and Pave. This range reflects our Tier 1 compensation market, which includes San Francisco. The actual offer and overall compensation package will be determined based on multiple factors, including relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and business considerations. The compensation and benefits described in this posting apply to U.S.-based W-2 employees and may vary based on applicable employment laws and requirements. INTERVIEW PROCESS Our interview process is designed to give both you and Vizcom an opportunity to understand the fit, the work, and how we would collaborate. - Intro — 30 minutes: A conversation about your background, the role, and the impact you're looking to have. - Architecture Deep Dive — 45 minutes: A discussion focused on systems thinking, architecture, and technical decision-making. - Coding Session — 45 minutes: A practical technical exercise focused on how you approach and solve engineering problems. - Onsite Interview — Half Day: Meet members of the team and go deeper on technical collaboration, problem-solving, and the role. - References & Offer LOCATION This is an in-person role based in San Francisco, CA. JOIN US If you're excited by complex systems, high ownership, and building technology used every day by professional designers, we'd love to see your application. At Vizcom, you'll have the opportunity to own meaningful problems end to end while helping build the infrastructure behind the next generation of design tools. Join us in shaping a world designed by you. A NOTE TO CANDIDATES AND RECRUITING AGENCIES Please apply directly through this job posting. To help us keep our hiring process fair and organized, we ask candidates not to contact Vizcom employees directly regarding their application or candidacy. Vizcom is not seeking assistance from external recruiting agencies or search firms for this role. Please do not contact or solicit Vizcom employees regarding recruiting services, candidate submissions, or agency partnerships. Unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles submitted by agencies will not create a fee obligation on behalf of Vizcom. As part of Vizcom's SOC 2 Type II compliance program, employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check, as permitted by applicable law.