Staff Software Engineer – Backend

About Minoan

Minoan is pioneering Native Retail — a revolutionary way to shop that seamlessly connects people, products, and spaces. By embedding products into real-world environments like vacation rentals, we let customers experience items naturally, without the noise of traditional retail.

We’re building the infrastructure for the future of commerce, and we’re looking for exceptional engineers to help shape it.

💻 The Role

We’re seeking a Staff Software Engineer – Backend to take end-to-end ownership of our backend systems.

This role goes beyond coding — you’ll drive architecture evolution, reliability, scalability, operational excellence, and modernisation of our backend stack, while mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives across teams.

🔧 What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain backend services using Node.js / Sails.js
• Own and evolve backend architecture for scalability and reliability
• Optimise and manage PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, and Elasticsearch at scale
• Build background jobs and workflow systems using Bull/BullMQ and cron
• Deploy and manage services on AWS using Docker & Kubernetes
• Use AI-assisted development tools (like Claude Code) to ship faster with high quality
• Lead code reviews and establish engineering best practices
• Improve monitoring, alerting, incident response, and operational excellence
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and frontend teams
• Build scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT workflows for analytics, search, pricing, and AI systems
• Drive technical initiatives across teams and influence architectural direction

🎯 What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of backend development experience with Node.js
• Strong expertise with Sails.js or similar frameworks (Express, NestJS, Fastify)
• Deep knowledge of PostgreSQL & MongoDB
• Hands-on experience with Redis, REST APIs, and distributed systems
• Production experience with AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and modern Git workflows
• Strong understanding of scalable data pipelines and large-scale data processing
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills in remote environments
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives across teams

⭐ Bonus Points

• Experience with Elasticsearch or Algolia
• Familiarity with OpenAI or Anthropic Claude APIs
• Experience with Pinecone or semantic/vector search
• Background in e-commerce, hospitality tech, or B2B platforms
• Open-source contributions or mentoring experience

🛠 Tech Stack

NodeJS · SailsJS · PostgreSQL · MongoDB · Redis · ElasticSearch · Pinecone · Bull/BullMQ · AWS · Docker · Kubernetes · Firebase · Claude Code

✨ Why Join Minoan?

At Minoan, you’ll

• Work on challenging technical problems with real customer impact
• Help build the future infrastructure of retail
• Join a fast-moving, highly collaborative engineering culture
• Work in an AI-first environment that empowers engineers to move fast and build better