Senior Backend Engineer

About Vogo Vogo is a global travel platform that brings all types of accommodations into one place, making it easy for travelers to find the perfect stay. From downtown hotels and luxury resorts to private vacation rentals and remote cabins, Vogo offers the widest selection of accommodations worldwide. Vogo's proprietary technology then scans billions of data points to surface the best deals across millions of properties, streamlining discovery, and booking for every traveler. Since launching out of Wilbur Labs in 2018, Vogo has rapidly become one of the most trusted travel platforms globally, surpassing $1 billion in gross bookings in just two years. Vogo is headquartered in Dallas and led by a team of travel industry veterans. About this Role Vogo is seeking a versatile, highly skilled Senior Backend Engineer to join our engineering organization. In this role, you’ll help ensure high performance, reliability, and scalability, and contribute to the architecture and direction of our systems. Our backend systems are the backbone of the traveler experience, and this role plays a critical part in scaling our platform to support millions of users and high-volume transactions. The ideal candidate will own key backend initiatives and help shape engineering culture, collaborating closely with product, engineering, and leadership to build the services and APIs that power our platform. This role will report directly to the Head of Engineering. This is a full-time hybrid position, based in Dallas. Role & Responsibilities: Design, architect, and implement robust APIs and services using Node.js, PostgreSQL, and RedisOptimize complex SQL queries and schemas to ensure lightning-fast performance across large datasetsLeverage AI coding tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, etc.) as a core part of your development workflow, and contribute to integrating AI/LLM-powered features into our platformTackle high-scale engineering challenges to ensure reliability and efficiency under heavy trafficCollaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and leadership teams on backend featuresProactively identify and resolve technical debt; lead refactoring projects to future-proof our stackParticipate in team standups, code reviews, and deployment processesMentor and support other engineers, helping to elevate team-wide technical excellenceTake ownership of projects and drive initiatives from concept to productionHelp lead releases and share ownership of release readiness alongside other senior engineersMentor and support engineers across the team while helping establish and maintain technical standards and best practicesAct as a technical point of contact for your area, proactively flagging risks and pushing back on scope when something doesn't fit our stack Minimum Qualifications: 8+ years of backend software engineering experienceStrong experience with Node.js and PostgreSQL (or equivalent relational databases)Strong SQL skills - able to write, debug, and optimize complex queries on large datasetsDemonstrated AI fluency — actively uses AI tools in day-to-day engineering workExperience working on high-volume, consumer-facing platformsSolid understanding of backend architecture, distributed systems, and scalability principlesExperience with DevOps practices and cloud infrastructure (preferably Google Cloud or AWS), including CI/CD, monitoring, and infrastructure as codeEntrepreneurial mindset with a self-driven, ownership mentalityExcellent collaboration and communication skills Preferred Qualifications & Prior Experience: Experience in the travel, marketplace, or e-commerce spaceExperience scaling systems to millions of daily usersExperience building and deploying machine learning models using Vertex AI or similar platforms (e.g., SageMaker, Azure ML)Experience with React and Next.jsContributions to open-source projects or tech communities Benefits & Perks: Competitive salary + equityTop-tier laptop provided100% company-paid health benefits for base plan coverage, with the option to upgrade to higher-tier plans401(k) with company matchUnlimited, guilt-free vacation daysAnnual wellness stipend (gym + other wellness activities)Monthly house cleaning stipendAnnual travel allowanceMonthly cell phone & internet usage stipendCharity donation company matchEmployee referral bonusTeam offsites/activities