Senior Backend & Infrastructure Software Engineer

Surreal is on a mission to get people off their screens and back into the real world. We’re revolutionising the entertainment and hospitality industry with software that makes organising live entertainment effortless. Our all-in-one platform is the backbone of over 200,000 gigs every year across the world. From Melbourne, to Miami, to Manchester, Surreal helps agents, venues, and entertainers manage the chaos behind the scenes so they can focus on creating unforgettable experiences. We believe in the magic of live entertainment - the electrifying atmosphere of a packed venue, and the small, intimate gigs that bring communities together. From pub trivia nights to packed-out club sets, we power it all. At Surreal, we turn complex operations into smooth, repeatable processes, giving hospitality operators the tools to scale their live entertainment operations stress-free. By doing this we amplify the moments that make live entertainment extraordinary. Join us. Be part of a team that champions the unsung heroes of the industry and builds the future of live entertainment. The gig We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who is strong in Node.js and comfortable taking real ownership of infrastructure. A lot of the role will be backend engineering, but you’ll also take ownership of our AWS infrastructure. We need someone who can understand how it works end to end, improve it, and make good decisions about how it should evolve as the platform grows. This isn’t a dedicated DevOps role, but infrastructure is a meaningful part of the job. We’re looking for someone with enough real experience to own that area confidently, while still being hands-on in the backend. You’ll also have a meaningful say in the architecture of the platform. For example, we currently use event sourcing via a small open-source framework. It works for us today, but as our event volume grows, we’ll eventually outgrow it. You’ll play a big part in working out what comes next. You’ll help the rest of the engineering team get better at backend and infrastructure work too. We don’t want one person to know everything about one part of the system, so we document as we go and teach each other. We’re a small team, which means you’ll get more variety and more influence than you probably would at a larger company. You’ll own entire areas of the platform and be expected to make decisions. If that sounds good, keep reading. What you'll actually do Build features on our Node.js / TypeScript backendOwn and improve our AWS infrastructure using Terraform, ECS Fargate, Aurora PostgreSQL and RedisHelp make decisions around reliability, scalability and costWork with our data warehouse and write a lot of SQLImprove our CI/CD setup through CircleCIHelp make the big architecture callsWork out where our current systems will stop scaling and what we should do about itHelp other engineers improve their backend and infrastructure skillsExplain technical decisions to non-technical people when needed Must have experience Around 6+ years of software engineering experienceStrong Node.js and TypeScriptReal production experience with AWSComfortable owning infrastructure and making technical decisions about itVery comfortable with data and SQLComfortable making decisions without needing someone to tell you exactly what to doWilling to ask for help rather than spending hours stuck on somethingAble to explain technical things clearly to non-technical peopleYou enjoy helping other engineers get better Nice to have Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code experienceEvent sourcing or distributed systems experienceGCP / BigQuery experienceExperience working on systems as they scaleExperience working in fast-paced startup engineering teams Don't meet every single requirement? Please apply anyway. A lot of people, particularly women, don’t apply for jobs unless they meet every point. If most of this sounds like you and the role interests you, we’d still like to hear from you. Our team is predominantly based in Melbourne, so our preference is that you are too, however we are more than open to applicants across Aus. What We Offer 9 Day Fortnight: Surreal has a RDO every 2 weeks. We work hard, but we also rest hard. Experience Leave: You get one day a quarter to go experience something novel. Doona Day: A day off on your birthday. Flexibility: We mostly work from home and meet in person only from time to time for workshops, war rooms, and team days.Equipment: A company laptop and all necessary gear.Ownership: Stock options in the company you’ll help build. How we work We’re a casual and honest team. We speak our minds, give real feedback, and celebrate good work. We avoid unnecessary processes, so if you’re used to big companies, our lack of red tape might feel refreshing or surprising. You'll get real trust and real autonomy. You'll make mistakes; we all do, and that's fine, as long as we learn something.