Senior Backend Engineer

About the Company Journey.ai is a growth-stage startup focused on identity protection and secure customer interactions. Its software supports secure payments, authentication, document signatures, and custom forms for contact centers. The company’s Zero Knowledge® platform allows agents to request actions and information from callers while maintaining control and privacy of customer data. The company operates remotely, with most team members based in Colorado. Optional events are occasionally held in the Denver area. The engineering team is expanding to support a growing enterprise customer base and extend the platform beyond its startup stages. About the Role We are looking for an experienced backend engineer to help establish and maintain technical standards for the company’s API and identity network services. A major focus of the role is refactoring the API to create clear, meaningful abstraction layers that support modularity, testing, and efficient development of new features, routes, and database models. You will work primarily with Go and contribute to architectural decisions, distributed systems, code reviews, mentoring, and engineering process improvements. As the technical foundation develops, you will have the opportunity to take ownership of or lead areas of the system. Key Responsibilities •Design backend logic and systems using Go and its ecosystem •Analyze and optimize existing server-side Go code •Contribute to technical plans and architectural decisions involving distributed systems and multiple services or applications •Help establish clear abstraction layers and technical standards for API and identity network services •Review pull requests from peers, mid-level engineers, and contractors •Mentor and delegate to mid-level engineers and contractors •Support onboarding and knowledge transfer across the engineering team •Coordinate with engineers across multiple projects and initiatives •Create and execute tasks proactively •Contribute to improving and refining engineering processes •Help shape technical direction in ambiguous environments •Balance cost, scalability, and product requirements when making technical decisions Required Qualifications •4+ years of expertise in backend development •Strong professional experience with Go and the Go ecosystem •Experience analyzing and optimizing server-side Go applications •Experience with distributed systems and multiple services or applications •Strong technical judgment and architectural decision-making skills •Ability to work independently and take initiative •Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments •Ability to balance cost, scalability, and product needs •Experience collaborating with other engineers across projects •Ability to mentor and support other engineers Technical Environment •Go •Gin •Next.js •TypeScript •React •Vite •Distributed identity network •API and backend services •OpenTelemetry •Containers •CI/CD pipelines •Monorepo development Engineering Environment •Fully localized development through containers •Reliable CI/CD pipelines •Security as the highest priority •Simple solutions and practical engineering •Customer-driven feedback •Use of AI developer tools to assist with day-to-day operations, while maintaining human-led engineering processes Interview Process •Initial phone screening •Interviews with two staff-level engineers covering technical skills, experience, and culture fit •Remote live technical assessment focused on thought process and collaborative skills •AI tools are not permitted during the technical assessment; documentation and reference searches are permitted •Entire interview process is conducted remotely •Typical process duration ranges from three days to two weeks, depending on candidate availability Additional Information •Remote position •Most of the team is based in Colorado •Optional events may occasionally take place in the Denver area •Non-traditional career paths are welcome •Demonstrable expertise is valued regardless of how it was acquired