Whatnot is seeking a Platform Engineer to enhance the core foundations of their backend systems, including real-time services and storage solutions, to support rapid growth, ensure reliability and scalability, and lay the groundwork for future platform needs like global expansion.
Requirements
- Strong expertise in large-scale backend systems, preferably with Python; experience with Java, Go, Elixir, or other stacks is a plus
- Deep understanding of storage systems such as Postgres, DynamoDB, and PlanetScale
- Proven experience in building or scaling messaging, notification, or caching systems
- Extensive background in refactoring large codebases for scalability, performance, and maintainability
- Hands-on experience with runtime and platform optimization techniques, including concurrency models, async patterns, and memory tuning
- Familiarity with service reliability and observability practices, including metrics, tracing, circuit breakers, and failure isolation
- Comfort working in cloud-native environments such as AWS or GCP, with Kubernetes, Docker, and Terraform
Responsibilities
- Own and enhance the core backend systems, including real-time services and storage platforms
- Improve runtime performance, concurrency, memory utilization, and dependency management within the Python stack
- Build and scale foundational platform services to support reliability, scalability, and developer productivity
- Optimize storage solutions for consistency, performance, and scalability
- Embed observability and reliability patterns into the platform by default to ensure high availability and fault tolerance
- Refactor and modularize large-scale codebases to maintain developer velocity and code quality
- Collaborate with product and infrastructure teams to develop platform APIs and abstractions that balance speed and stability
Other
- 7+ years of backend engineering experience (10+ years for Staff-level roles)
- Strong ability to set technical standards and develop reusable patterns adopted by engineering teams
- Bonus: prior experience in hyper-growth environments
- Generous holiday and time-off policies
- Health insurance options including Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
