Software Engineer, Backend

Sleeper

Software Engineer designing and building backend systems for fantasy sports platform. Collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance user experiences for millions of sports fans.

Posted 5/9/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $140,000 - $185,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSCloudDistributed SystemsDockerElixirGoGoogle Cloud PlatformGraphQLJavaJavaScriptKafkaKubernetesNode.jsNoSQLPythonRabbitMQSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design and build core backend systems that power Sleeper's games and real-time user experiences—fantasy contests, Sleeper Picks, user profiles, leaderboards, and more.
Build scalable, distributed systems capable of handling millions of concurrent users with low latency and high availability.
Own backend initiatives from concept to deployment, ensuring clean interfaces, well-documented services, and resilient infrastructure.
Optimize system performance and proactively address bottlenecks through monitoring, profiling, and capacity planning.
Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and frontend teams to deliver features that users love.
Contribute thoughtful code reviews and help strengthen backend engineering best practices and standards.

Requirements

What you’ll need

3+ years of backend software engineering experience.
Proven ability to build and scale distributed systems that serve millions of users in real-time or gaming environments.
Strong proficiency in one or more backend languages (e.g., Go, Python, Node.js, Java), and an understanding of trade-offs between them.
Solid knowledge of databases (both SQL and NoSQL), caching strategies, and message queues (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub).
Comfortable designing and maintaining RESTful and/or graphql APIs, data models, and internal tooling.
Cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or similar), with familiarity with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes a plus).
Strong product mindset—you care about the why, not just the how, and you build with users in mind.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Bonus: Proficiency in Elixir
Bonus: Passion for sports, gaming, or building multiplayer or real-time systems.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive salary ($140,000–$185,000) /year not inclusive of stock options and benefits)
Equity
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k)
Generous PTO and flexible remote work policy
Opportunities for fast career growth in a high-impact role
A small, focused team where your contributions truly matter

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

backend software engineeringdistributed systemsGoPythonNode.jsJavaSQLNoSQLRESTful APIsGraphQL

Soft Skills

communicationcollaborationproduct mindset