Opportunity at
Customer.ioStaff Software Engineer, Backend
Customer.io is currently seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to guide the technical strategy for distributed messaging systems that process billions of messages daily. Over 9,000…
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About This Role
Customer.io is currently seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to guide the technical strategy for distributed messaging systems that process billions of messages daily. Over 9,000 global companies rely on the platform to deliver automated emails, push notifications, and SMS campaigns driven by real-time behavioral data. The core technology stack includes Go, React, Ember, and artificial intelligence tools. This position focuses on resolving complex architectural challenges, balancing cost, scale, and…
Job Description
Customer.io is currently seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to guide the technical strategy for distributed messaging systems that process billions of messages daily. Over 9,000 global companies rely on the platform to deliver automated emails, push notifications, and SMS campaigns driven by real-time behavioral data. The core technology stack includes Go, React, Ember, and artificial intelligence tools.
This position focuses on resolving complex architectural challenges, balancing cost, scale, and reliability across mission-critical services, and elevating engineering standards across multiple squads. Rather than simply shipping features quickly, the role requires deep product intuition, a willingness to retire outdated practices, and acting as a force multiplier for the department. Responsibilities involve defining technical direction, building consensus on difficult architectural questions, managing large-scale infrastructure problems, utilizing AI agents for multi-file code modifications, and participating in an on-call rotation.
Responsibilities
- Determine high-level architectural strategies for distributed messaging infrastructure in Go
- Resolve ambiguous, high-stakes infrastructure issues that span multiple squads and functional boundaries
- Establish consensus regarding contested technical subjects and communicate tradeoffs effectively to senior leadership
- Raise the engineering department baseline by defining quality metrics, mentoring senior staff, and writing reusable architectural frameworks
- Drive tooling and process enhancements across the broader engineering organization
- Take part in an on-call rotation to maintain system stability
- Assess and interview job candidates using the internal career ladder framework
- Leverage AI agents to implement multi-file code modifications through proper scoping, prompt design, and output verification
Requirements
- At least 10 years of professional experience developing scalable, distributed systems utilizing Go or comparable statically typed programming languages
- Demonstrated history of serving as a primary technical resource for architectural decisions
- Broad expertise spanning multiple technical domains rather than a single focus area
- Extensive background in balancing cost, throughput, and reliability constraints for production environments
- Direct experience building observability and recovery mechanisms including metrics, alerts, rollbacks, backpressure, and checkpointing
- Familiarity with cloud-native architectures such as AWS or GCP alongside relational database management systems like MySQL
- Proven ability to elevate other engineers through mentorship, technical documentation, and design reviews
Core Skills
Benefits
- Starting annual base salary ranging from $200,000 to $240,000 USD depending on experience
- Annual bonus target set at 10 percent
- Equity grants through stock options
- Full coverage of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and supplemental insurance premiums for employees and their families
- 16 weeks of paid parental leave
- Unlimited paid time off
- Stipends allocated for remote work and wellness
- Dedicated professional development budget
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
What is the salary range for the Staff Software Engineer, Backend role?
The starting base salary ranges from $200,000 to $240,000 USD per year, determined by experience and subject to market rate adjustments. This position also includes a 10 percent annual bonus target and stock options.
What technologies are used in this role?
The engineering team utilizes Go, React, Ember, AWS, GCP, and MySQL, alongside AI tools for multi-file code updates.
What experience is required to apply?
Applicants must have 10 or more years of experience creating scalable, distributed systems using Go or similar statically typed languages, with a track record of architectural leadership and production design.
What does the interview process involve?
The process includes an application review, a 30-minute recruiter call, a 60-minute hiring manager interview featuring an AI-assisted coding exercise, a 60-minute architecture system design conversation, a take-home assignment, and a 60-minute assignment review call.
Sample Interview Questions
AI-generated questions tailored to this specific role — a preview of the full practice set.