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Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Pika Labs, Inc.

Job Overview

Location

Palo Alto HQ

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Join Pika Labs as a Senior Software Engineer, Backend, and play a pivotal role in architecting and developing the core infrastructure that underpins our innovative products. This is an exceptional opportunity to shape the future of Pika's backend systems, impacting millions of users globally.
• You will be instrumental in designing, building, and maintaining robust, scalable, and highly available backend services. Your responsibilities will span the entire development lifecycle, from conceptualization and API design to database modeling, infrastructure decisions, and ensuring production reliability.
• Take ownership of end-to-end backend logic, ensuring seamless integration across our web, mobile, and multi-platform applications. This includes meticulous database design and operations, performance tuning, and the implementation of efficient data storage solutions.
• Dive deep into the design and construction of real-time communication systems. This involves leveraging technologies like WebSocket connections, building sophisticated event-driven architectures, and implementing message queues to facilitate low-latency interactions between services and users.
• Proactively scale our infrastructure to meet the demands of a rapidly growing user base, focusing on optimizing throughput, minimizing latency, and maximizing reliability. Your efforts will ensure Pika can handle increasing loads without compromising performance.
• Contribute to the enhancement of internal tooling and the automation of operational processes. This will streamline team workflows, improve development velocity, and reduce manual overhead.
• Drive critical technical decisions by authoring Request for Comments (RFCs), meticulously evaluating technical trade-offs, and fostering consensus among the engineering team. Your strategic input will guide the technical direction of Pika.
• Actively mentor and guide more junior engineers. This will involve conducting thorough code reviews, providing insightful architecture guidance, and engaging in pair programming to foster skill development and elevate the overall technical expertise of the team.
• Take a proactive approach to debugging, optimizing, and future-proofing our systems. You will be adept at tracing complex problems across distributed services, identifying root causes, and implementing effective solutions to ensure long-term system health and scalability.
• Contribute to the strategic technical roadmap, identifying opportunities for innovation and improvement within the backend infrastructure. Your insights will help shape the evolution of Pika's technology stack.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and other engineering teams to translate product requirements into scalable and efficient technical solutions.
• Champion best practices in software development, including testing, monitoring, and security, ensuring the highest quality standards for all backend components.
• Participate in on-call rotations and be prepared to respond to production incidents, demonstrating a commitment to system stability and user experience.
• Continuously evaluate and adopt new technologies and methodologies that can enhance our backend capabilities and competitive edge.
• You will be a key player in ensuring the security and integrity of our backend systems, implementing robust security measures and protocols.
• Your work will directly influence the user experience, ensuring that Pika's services are not only powerful but also intuitive and reliable.
• This role offers a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology in a fast-paced startup environment, with significant potential for professional growth and impact.

🎯 Requirements

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience building production services at scale.
• Proficiency in modern backend technologies (e.g., Node.js, Python, Go) and associated frameworks (e.g., Express, FastAPI).
• Strong understanding of distributed systems, including event-driven architectures, message queues, and service-to-service communication patterns.
• Deep knowledge of database design and operations, encompassing SQL and NoSQL databases, data modeling, and performance tuning.
• Experience with API design and development, cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP), containerization (Kubernetes), and CI/CD workflows.
• Comfort building and maintaining real-time systems, such as those utilizing WebSockets, long-polling, or pub/sub patterns.
• Strong debugging and observability skills, with the ability to efficiently trace and resolve issues across complex service landscapes.
• An ownership mentality, proactively identifying problems and driving solutions without requiring detailed specifications.
• Clear and effective communication skills, coupled with a collaborative, team-first mindset.
• Experience with AI/LLM integration (model orchestration, token management, prompt routing) is a significant plus.
• Previous experience in a startup environment, demonstrating comfort with ambiguity and a fast-paced work ethic, is highly desirable.

🏖️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous paid time off (PTO) and holidays.
• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning.
• A dynamic and collaborative work environment with a talented and passionate team.
• The chance to work on cutting-edge technology and make a significant impact on a growing product.
• Regular team events and social activities.
• Commuter benefits and other perks.

Skills & Technologies

Python

JavaScript

Node.js

Express

FastAPI

Backend

Senior

Onsite

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Pika Labs, Inc.

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About Pika Labs, Inc.

Pika Labs builds AI-driven video creation and editing software that converts text prompts or images into short, high-resolution clips. Founded in 2023 by Stanford researchers and backed by venture capital, the company offers a web platform and mobile app for rapid storyboarding, cinematic effects, and collaborative editing. Targeting filmmakers, marketers, and social content creators, Pika emphasizes intuitive controls, real-time generation, and cloud-based rendering to streamline traditional video production workflows.

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