Backend Engineer

AgileEngine is an Inc. 5000 company that creates award-winning software for Fortune 500 brands and trailblazing startups across 17+ industries. We rank among the leaders in areas like application development and AI/ML, and our people-first culture has earned us multiple Best Place to Work awards. WHY JOIN US If you're looking for a place to grow, make an impact, and work with people who care, we'd love to meet you! ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for a Backend Engineer to build and scale the backend of a high-traffic gaming companion platform with over 25 million monthly visits. The mandatory requirements include 3+ years of backend development with TypeScript on Node.js, strong SQL and caching skills, experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, production-scale applications, daily hands-on use of AI coding tools, and an upper-intermediate English level. WHAT YOU WILL DO - Build and maintain REST and GraphQL APIs in TypeScript (Fastify, Hono) for user profiles, subscriptions and game data, including authentication, rate limits and typed contracts. - Design schemas and write queries for PostgreSQL and MySQL (Prisma, Drizzle), including versioned game data, player builds and migrations on tables in live use. - Run ClickHouse analytics pipelines: request logs, materialized views, article and revenue metrics, and the queries behind dashboards. - Own the cache layers end to end: Redis-compatible stores, query caching, tag-invalidated cache, HTTP headers and CDN purges. - Build and run scheduled jobs and queue consumers (NATS) for game data sync, leaderboards, Meilisearch indexing, sitemaps, Stripe webhooks, payouts and data-deletion requests. - Integrate third-party APIs (Stripe, Discord, Blizzard, IGDB, Steam, YouTube), handling retries, backoff and rate limits. - Process game images into map tiles, sprite sheets and responsive image sizes. - Keep responses lean for Remix and Next.js pages to improve time to first byte, PageSpeed and SEO. - Work with AI coding agents every day: direct them, review their output, and maintain the guardrails that make their changes safe to merge (tests, lint rules, build checks, agent instructions). - Deploy through Docker, GitHub Actions and Kubernetes. - Support high-traffic game launches, including outside regular hours when needed. MUST HAVES - 3+ years of backend development with TypeScript on Node.js. - Strong command of TypeScript’s type system (generics, inference, discriminated unions, narrowing). - Schema validation experience with Zod or similar. - Strong SQL skills in PostgreSQL and/or MySQL: schema design, indexing, query plans, migrations on live data, transactions and locking. - Experience running an analytical database at production volume (ClickHouse preferred; BigQuery, Druid or similar also count). - Experience designing caching: Redis or a compatible store, invalidation strategies, HTTP cache headers, CDN behavior. - Experience designing and consuming REST and GraphQL APIs, including authentication and rate limiting. - Experience with background jobs and message queues, including handling jobs that run twice or don’t run at all. - Experience with high-volume, user-facing production applications. - Experience taking a product from idea to production. - Proficiency with agentic AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor or similar): daily, hands-on use in a real codebase, and good judgment about when their output needs checking. - Comfortable reading and changing React code when a feature reaches the frontend. - Able to work well in a startup-style, fast-paced environment with changing priorities. - Flexible about working hours: some game launches happen in the evening or on weekends and need coverage outside the standard 9-to-5. - Passion for gaming. - Upper-intermediate English level. NICE TO HAVES - Experience with Bun. - Experience with any of the current stack: Remix, Next.js, Fastify, Hono, Prisma, Drizzle, Apollo GraphQL, Meilisearch, NATS, Ory, Stripe, Nx. - shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS. - Strict lint setups (typescript-eslint strictTypeChecked, custom lint rules, architecture boundaries). - Docker, Kubernetes, GitOps (ArgoCD), GitHub Actions, External Secrets. - Payments and subscriptions (Stripe checkout, webhooks, promotion codes). - Writing agent instructions, skills or custom tooling for AI coding agents. - Experience building game tools, such as databases, interactive maps, calculators or planners. PERKS AND BENEFITS - Professional growth: Mentorship, TechTalks, and personalized growth roadmaps. - Competitive compensation: USD-based pay with education, fitness, and team activity budgets. - Exciting projects: Modern solutions with Fortune 500 and top product companies. - Flextime: Flexible schedule with remote and office options. Meet Our Recruitment Process Application → Coding Challenge → Video Interview → Technical Interview or Hiring Manager Interview Each step helps us understand your skills and overall fit. If it’s a match, you’ll receive an offer.