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Backend Engineer

The challenge/Mission

At Better Stack, we are engineers, making the tools we always wanted. We’re not just shipping code; we’re redefining how software gets built.

Software is the closest thing to magic in the real world, and it has helped mankind accomplish amazing things in the last twenty years. There’s arguably a lot of software in the world already, and with the rise of AI, there will only be more of it. Our tools empower developers to create a better internet and literally keep software running across the globe. Our small but mighty team moves at speed to make sure fellow engineers get a much better observability stack. (pun intended 😏)

I think you get it already, but let’s be explicit—we’re a startup built by engineers, for engineers. Our CTO, CEO, and COO are all software builders who understand what it takes to craft elegant, efficient, and delightful products. And we’re continuously looking for more Full-Stack/Product Engineer/Generalist to help us create high-quality software with exceptional UX—end to end.

Be cautious, though. You’ll need to do more than write code. You’ll eventually shape the user experience, optimize backend performance, and deploy secure, scalable software. We’re looking for software engineers who, if given enough time, could build Better Stack on their own. This role is not about filling a narrow niche but taking ownership and shipping impactful software that users love.

What you'll do

  • Develop, test, and deploy secure, performant, and scalable code in production—independently or with lightweight collaboration.
  • Work directly with our CTO, CEO, and designer to deliver end-to-end features, from backend to frontend, within a single day.
  • Use our modern yet opinionated tech stack—Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Redis, ClickHouse, Redpanda, JavaScript, Vue.js, Tailwind, Docker, and more.
  • Keep (not only) frontend performance and SEO on your mind, ensuring fast, delightful user experiences while maintaining a polished UI.
  • Engage with pragmatic problem-solving: know when to go "quick and dirty" for prototypes and when to polish production code to perfection.
  • Ship software while maintaining security and performance across the stack—understanding basic web security principles without over-relying on frameworks.
  • Collaborate asynchronously while avoiding unnecessary meetings. We trust you to manage your time and ship.

This Might Be For You If

  • Software is your hobby. You’ve written web scrapers for fun, built apps for personal use, or explored side projects to learn new tech. Sometimes people wonder, so let us be clear: No, it doesn’t mean software needs to be your only hobby. We love software and still enjoy spending time with our families and friends, hiking, or crafting wooden furniture.
  • You love shipping things end-to-end. Styling buttons in the morning, adjusting the database schema at noon, and deploying to production in the afternoon? Sounds like a perfect day to you.
  • You value speed and pragmatism. You know how to prioritize and cut the right 5% of a feature to simplify its implementation by 100x.
  • You take security very seriously. You understand, know and can apply fundamental security principles and best practices in modern software development, ensuring systems are robust and resilient against vulnerabilities. And no, the answer is not “modern frameworks are resolving security”.
  • You’re performance-minded. From optimizing SQL queries to reducing frontend reflows and choosing the right number of threads, you’re always looking for ways to improve efficiency.
  • You're a generalist. You don’t need to be an expert in every area of software engineering, but you’re comfortable wearing multiple hats and learning quickly.
  • You care about UI and UX. Pixel-perfect designs and seamless user flows aren’t “just for designers.” Refactoring UI is/would be your go-to guide.
  • You prefer fewer meetings and more doing instead. Team stand-ups? No thanks. Async tools and clear communication? Yes, please.
  • You might have worked with our stack, and you might not. Long story short, we don't care much. We need you to be flexible about that. We treat technology as tools. And great software engineers can pick up any technology fast. As far as you worked with some web technologies and at least some SQL databases, you’re just fine! Count on us—we’ll help you get up to speed with our stack if necessary.
  • You share our vision of software engineers being the artists of our age. Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, wrote Hackers and Painters, our favorite book on that topic.

Who You’ll Work With

  • Our founders: Juraj (CEO), Veronika (COO), and Tomas (CTO) who remain hands-on and ship code weekly.
  • The team: We consider our team to be a professional sports team. Everyone aims to be the best in the world in what they do. From YC alumni to ex-Google and ex-Shopify colleagues, you’ll be in great company.
  • A design wizard: Our designer’s expertise ensures every feature you build looks and feels incredible.

Where to go next?

Apply
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