We’re on a mission to cultivate a connected world through shared experiences and are looking for like-minded people to join us in delivering necessary, innovative and convenient technologies and services to the outdoor recreation industry at large. As a member of the Aspira team, you’ll be joining us in supporting convenient access to North America’s most treasured public and private lands, as well as the memorable moments they create.
Position Purpose
As a Principal Back End Engineer at Aspira, you will be a key technical leader within our engineering team, driving the design, development, and optimization of robust back-end systems that are crucial to the company’s operational success and scalability. This role combines in-depth coding expertise, architectural design, and strategic leadership, ensuring that all back-end solutions are scalable, efficient, and aligned with both technical and business objectives. The Principal Back End Engineer will collaborate with cross-functional teams, mentor junior engineers, and play a critical role in shaping the technical roadmap for our back-end infrastructure.
In this role, you will be building highly scalable serverless applications on AWS. You will work closely with product managers, front-end engineers, and other stakeholders to design and implement solutions that leverage modern technologies and best practices. Your extensive experience in serverless architecture, along with your deep knowledge of AWS Services like CloudFront, S3, DynamoDB, AppSync, Lambda, EventBridge, and StepFunctions, will be instrumental in ensuring the reliability and efficiency of our technical infrastructure.
Responsibilities
- Lead the design and development of scalable, high-performance back-end services and APIs, ensuring seamless integration with front-end systems and third-party applications.
- Optimize back-end build pipelines and deployment processes, enhancing system performance, reducing technical debt, and improving overall operational efficiency.
- Define and implement a comprehensive testing strategy for back-end systems, including unit, integration, and load testing, to ensure robust code quality and system reliability.
- Collaborate with security teams to identify and address potential vulnerabilities, incorporating security best practices into the back-end development lifecycle to protect data and maintain compliance.
- Oversee the architectural design and deployment of back-end solutions, ensuring they meet both technical and business requirements for scalability, performance, and reliability.
- Work closely with product managers, front-end engineers, and other stakeholders to define the technical roadmap and align back-end development with the company's broader product strategy.
- Mentor and guide back-end engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and technical excellence within the team.
- Drive technical discussions and decision-making processes, offering expertise on back-end architecture, design patterns, and industry best practices.
- Conduct thorough code reviews, ensuring adherence to coding standards and the delivery of maintainable, scalable back-end solutions.
- Take ownership of complex back-end projects, managing timelines and proactively identifying and addressing potential risks or issues to ensure timely and successful delivery.
- Stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices, applying this knowledge to continuously improve the company's back-end infrastructure.
- Contribute to the evolution of back-end development processes by introducing new tools, methodologies, and practices to enhance team efficiency and software quality.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues, ensuring high system reliability and performance across all applications.
- Represent and embody the company culture, promoting teamwork, transparent communication, and accountability in all interactions.
- Promotes business policies and procedures, the quality of its products and reputation, and consistently supports compliance and all applicable regulatory initiatives by maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of information, protecting the assets of the organization, acting with ethics and integrity, reporting non-compliance, and adhering to applicable laws and regulations.
- Readily facilitates position with observation of flexible hours as needed to meet or exceed department needs, and complete other tasks as assigned.
Desired Qualifications
- Proven track record of designing and delivering high-quality, scalable back-end systems, with a strong foundation in serverless architecture, performance optimization, and distributed computing.
- Strong experience in designing and implmenting GraphQL APIs.
- Extensive experience with DynamoDB, Dynamo Streams, and single table design.
- Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to address complex technical challenges and develop innovative, efficient solutions that meet business needs.
- Exceptional leadership and mentoring capabilities, with a history of guiding engineering teams to deliver high-performance, secure, and reliable back-end services.
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Proficiency in implementing best practices for back-end security, including knowledge of encryption, authentication mechanisms, and secure data handling.
- Adaptability to evolving technologies and industry trends, with a proactive approach to adopting and integrating new tools and methodologies to enhance back-end development and infrastructure.
Desired Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
- 10+ years of professional experience in back-end software development, with a focus on designing and deploying scalable systems.
- 5+ years of experience in a senior or lead engineering role, demonstrating strong leadership and project management skills.
- Extensive experience with back-end technologies and frameworks, including Node.js, Java, Python, and major database systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB).
- Proven expertise in cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and experience with CI/CD tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI).
- Demonstrated success in implementing robust security practices and managing complex, high-performance systems.
Desired Hardware and Software Competency
- Proficiency in back-end development environments and tools, including IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio Code, and debugging tools for efficient coding and troubleshooting.
- Extensive experience with version control systems, particularly Git, for managing code in large-scale, multi-environment back-end projects and facilitating collaboration.
- Expertise in CI/CD pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, Storybook, and Chromatic for automating build processes, testing, and deployment of back-end services.
- Deep knowledge of AWS services, including experience with serverless architectures using AppSync, DynamoDB, S3, and EventBridge.
- Experience with performance monitoring and logging tools, including Sentry and CloudWatch, to ensure system stability, optimize performance, and manage application health.
- Strong understanding of back-end security protocols, including secure coding practices, encryption techniques, and access control mechanisms to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance.
General Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met satisfactorily to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. If requested, reasonable accommodation will be made to enable incumbents with disabilities to perform the essential function absent undue hardship, as this position requires:
- Stationary work, frequent moving to access resources and complete tasks, and positioning self to move in a manner that can be described as bending, stooping, kneeling, reaching, the occasional ascension/descension of a ladder, and/or climbing, with general coordination and balance necessary for safety of movement, manual dexterity to operate office equipment such as phones, computers, copiers, and faxes, as well as the ability to move, transport, position, push /pull materials and objects weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Daily determination, at a level suitable for safety and awareness within a warehouse environment, obtained through an ability to visually detect, perceive, identify, recognize, and inspect, at a far and close range, with the ability to differentiate colors, is required in tandem with the ability to verbally communicate, converse, discern, convey, and exchange information.
- Frequent operation of a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, printer, etc.,
- Scheduled hours, such as weekend, evening, or holiday shifts may occur as required by the business.