Staff Engineer

Summary

Join Slang.ai as a Staff Software Engineer and lead the development of scalable backend systems for conversational AI solutions in the restaurant industry. You will leverage your JVM expertise and domain-driven design to architect and implement systems integrating telephony, cloud infrastructure, and AI. This senior role involves technical leadership, mentoring junior engineers, and establishing architectural patterns for modular, testable software. You will work with Kotlin, Firestore, GCP, and tools like Twilio and Dialogflow. Success involves delivering high-quality software, ensuring system reliability, and contributing to team development and technical innovation. The role offers a fully remote option with a New York City office and a collaborative, innovative work environment.

Requirements

• 10+ years in software engineering, with significant experience in JVM-based applications and systems design
• BS/MS in Computer Science or related field
• Deep expertise in domain-driven design patterns, object-oriented design, and software architecture principles
• Strong experience developing backend services with Kotlin (or extensive JVM experience with Java, Scala, or Clojure)
• Experience using functional programming languages or paradigms in production environments
• Experience designing data models and implementing solutions with Firestore or similar NoSQL databases
• Proficiency in developing cloud-native applications for Google Cloud Platform (or another cloud environment)
• Experience with containerized applications using Docker and orchestration with Kubernetes
• Knowledge of dependency management, versioning strategies, and maintaining secure software supply chains
• Experience implementing observability patterns and writing maintainable, debuggable code
• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing systems that meet compliance requirements (e.g., SOC 2)
• Ability and willingness to participate in our on-call rotation
• Experience integrating with external services and APIs
• Ability to think strategically about technical architecture, code quality, and reliability/complexity/cost trade-offs
• Excellent communication skills, especially translating complex technical concepts to cross-functional stakeholders
• A desire to mentor engineers and elevate the team's software engineering practices
• Pro-activity and ability to not only solve complex technical problems yourself but also guide others through collaborative solutions

Responsibilities

• Design and develop robust, maintainable backend systems using Kotlin that power our telephony services while ensuring code quality, testability, and adherence to domain-driven design principles
• Architect data models and access patterns for Firestore that optimize for both performance and maintainability while supporting evolving business requirements
• Implement clean, well-structured integrations with telephony providers like Twilio and conversational AI platforms like Dialogflow, ensuring fault tolerance and graceful error handling
• Drive technical excellence by mentoring team members on software engineering best practices and fostering a culture of code quality and continuous improvement
• Establish and maintain SOC2 compliance practices in our codebase, ensuring proper security controls, audit trails, and documentation to meet regulatory requirements
• Create and enforce dependency management strategies that balance staying current with managing security vulnerabilities while minimizing disruption to development workflows
• Implement comprehensive observability solutions that provide actionable insights into application performance and behavior, enabling data-driven improvements
• Design and develop containerized services that follow best practices for cloud-native applications, emphasizing scalability, resilience, and operational efficiency
• Reduce technical debt through thoughtful refactoring, architectural improvements, and clear documentation that enhances the overall maintainability of our systems
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to transform business requirements into elegant technical solutions that deliver value to our customers
• Stay current with developments in software engineering, JVM ecosystem, and cloud-native technologies, evaluating and adopting practices that enhance our engineering capabilities

Benefits

• $190,000 - $205,000 a year
• Fully remote company
• New York city office space
• Opportunities for professional development