Sr. Backend Engineer, Data Platform

📋 Description

• • Tonic.ai is at the forefront of the rapidly evolving data privacy and AI landscape, positioning itself as a critical component of modern AI infrastructure. As a fast-growing Series B company, we are dedicated to empowering organizations to leverage their enterprise data safely and effectively. Our innovative platform employs advanced data synthesis, de-identification, and privacy-preserving techniques, enabling secure data utilization for software development, testing, and the training of sophisticated AI models. This acceleration of innovation is achieved without compromising the security and privacy of sensitive information, addressing one of the most significant challenges faced by engineering teams in the era of widespread AI adoption.
• • We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Backend Engineer to join our distinguished Structural Data team. This team is a cornerstone of Tonic.ai, comprised of deeply technical individuals responsible for architecting, developing, and maintaining the robust database foundations of our platform. This role is ideal for an engineer who thrives on solving intricate infrastructure challenges and desires to operate as a key technical decision-maker within a mature and collaborative engineering culture. You will play a pivotal role in elevating the team's technical capabilities while working on complex systems that demand strong foundational knowledge, sound engineering judgment, and the tenacity to navigate and resolve challenging system interdependencies.
• • As a Senior Backend Engineer on the Structural Data team, your primary responsibilities will revolve around owning significant technical initiatives from conception to deployment. This includes the meticulous design, development, and continuous evolution of database-centric components that form the backbone of Tonic’s structural data platform. You will be instrumental in making pragmatic architectural decisions, carefully balancing the critical requirements of system durability, optimal performance, and long-term maintainability. A key aspect of your role will involve developing and rigorously maintaining database connectors, ensuring seamless integration and efficient data flow within our Structural platform. Furthermore, you will be tasked with proactively identifying and implementing improvements to enhance both the performance and the overall maintainability of our product, ensuring it remains scalable and efficient.
• • A significant part of this role involves the critical task of diagnosing and resolving complex technical problems. You will be expected to expertly troubleshoot challenging production issues that may span across a variety of database technologies. This requires a deep dive into edge cases and intricate system behaviors, demanding both patience and a high degree of precision to uncover root causes. Your ability to dissect complex issues and implement effective solutions will be paramount to maintaining the reliability and integrity of our platform.
• • Driving technical clarity is another core responsibility. You will be responsible for authoring clear, concise, and thoughtful technical designs and comprehensive documentation. This ensures that technical decisions are well-understood, reproducible, and easily communicated across the team and to stakeholders. You will also actively facilitate team discussions, helping colleagues reason through complex technical tradeoffs and understand the long-term implications of architectural choices, thereby fostering a shared understanding and alignment.
• • Collaboration is key to our success. You will partner closely with the Product team to effectively translate business and user requirements into scalable, robust technical solutions. Furthermore, you will work hand-in-hand with our Support and Solutions Architect teams to gain a deep, nuanced understanding of customer issues and challenges before embarking on the implementation of fixes, ensuring that solutions are practical and address real-world needs.
• • Contributing to overall engineering excellence is a continuous effort. You will be expected to raise the technical bar through your commitment to high-quality code, astute technical judgment, and the consistent application of strong engineering habits. We encourage you to bring informed perspectives on modern tooling and development practices, including the effective utilization of AI-assisted development tools to enhance productivity and innovation. Your dedication to these principles will help shape the future of our engineering practices and the quality of our product.
• • This role is for a serious technologist with strong computer science fundamentals, proven experience in building or supporting enterprise-grade software systems. You should be a natural technical decision-maker, capable of operating with autonomy, making sound architectural calls, and positively influencing the engineers around you. If you are motivated by hard problems, find ambiguity energizing rather than intimidating, and enjoy delving into systems that require patience and precision, this role is an excellent fit. We value commitment; our domain requires a period of ramp-up, and engineers who thrive here are those looking to invest deeply in a problem space and grow alongside it. A low-ego, high-ownership mindset is crucial, enabling effective collaboration with experienced teammates and a focus on building the right solution above all else.