Sierra Studio is looking for a Backend Engineer to build and scale the core systems powering AI conversations and real-time messaging. You'll create deep integrations with social and e-commerce platforms to turn social engagement into revenue for merchants.
What You'll Do
- Build scalable backend services in TypeScript and Node.js that handle thousands of concurrent conversations across multiple social platforms.
- Architect AI integration pipelines that process conversational data, detect intent, and trigger intelligent actions.
- Design and harden API integrations with Meta/Instagram, Shopify, and payment providers with resilient retries, backoffs, and fallbacks.
- Implement real-time features for live conversation monitoring, alerts, and merchant interventions using websockets and event-driven patterns.
- Own multi-tenant data architecture for analytics, conversation tracking, and attribution reporting in PostgreSQL.
- Raise the reliability bar with instrumentation, tracing, alerting, and performance tuning.
- Operate like an owner — plan, ship, test, and iterate with high autonomy.
What We're Looking For
- 3+ years of professional TypeScript and Node.js experience building production backends.
- Strong API integration chops — you’ve wrestled with tricky external APIs and built robust error handling.
- PostgreSQL fluency — schema design, complex queries, indexing, and performance optimization.
- Real-time and event-driven systems — websockets, message queues, idempotency, webhooks at scale.
- Cloud experience (AWS preferred), Docker, and production monitoring.
- Testing mindset — solid unit and integration tests with CI.
- Communication — clear English, direct feedback, collaborative and low ego.
- Willingness to join monthly in-person working sessions in Venice, CA.
Nice to Have
- Meta/Instagram Graph API experience is a big plus.
- Workflow orchestration such as Temporal or similar.
- Social platform integrations (Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp).
- E-commerce integrations (Shopify, Stripe) and familiarity with payments primitives.
- Vector databases and semantic search for conversational features.
- Observability and distributed tracing — OpenTelemetry, Datadog, Honeycomb.
- Experience with high-scale messaging or chat products.
Technical Stack
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- NestJS
- PostgreSQL
- AWS
- Docker
Team & Environment
You'll join a small, senior team that ships fast, communicates in Slack, and values clear thinking, low ego, and good humor. It's a candid, no-drama culture with async communication.
Benefits & Compensation
- Competitive salary plus meaningful equity at an early stage.
- Direct, visible impact on merchant success and company growth.
- Technical autonomy — influence architecture and technology choices.
- Remote flexibility with monthly in-person collaboration in Venice, CA.
Work Mode
This is a hybrid role with remote flexibility, requiring monthly in-person working sessions in Venice, CA.
