[Hiring] Senior Backend Engineer @Close

Role Description

Close runs on Python: Flask web apps, TaskTiger, billions of MongoDB documents, a public REST API that customers and external agents both build on. Four product teams ship features on top of that every week. Backend Platform owns the layer underneath them.

The work is building for other engineers. When a product team adds a new API endpoint, most of what they write isn't their feature — it's wiring: authentication, permissions, rate limiting, the shape the endpoint has to take so it looks like every other endpoint when you squint. Multiply that across telemetry, eventing, database migrations, authorization, and local development, and you get the problem this team exists to solve: make the paved road faster to walk than the trail.

The other half of the team's mandate is the AI development platform. We've built DevDawg, cloud-based development environments preconfigured for our entire application stack and our engineering practices, and Spice, our extension layer on top of a coding agent that runs internal review workflows and root cause analysis. Spice is hooked into GitHub and can already approve mergeable pull requests on its own for simple changes. Expanding what it can safely handle is squarely this team's work.

This is a new team. You would be one of the first hires, and you'd have unusual influence over what the team owns and how it works.

One thing to know up front: we do move people between teams as the work shifts. Most engineers here end up on more than one team over their time at Close — this team is where you'd start, but over time you'll likely have the opportunity to work on many different projects.

This role is open at the Senior and Staff levels. You don't need to pick one when you apply: we'll calibrate together during the process.

Qualifications

• A seasoned Python engineer.
• Drawn to meta-problems.
• AI-native in production.
• Working with AI in your day-to-day.
• Fluent in observability and production practice.
• Opinionated about API design.
• Battle-tested.
• A builder first.
• Energized by internal customers.

Requirements

• Expand DevDawg and Spice.
• Build the paved roads for our API layer.
• Modernize the backend framework layer.
• Own how we see production.
• Ship shared backend services and primitives.
• Set the guardrails for coding agents in our backend.
• Partner across the org.

Benefits

• Compensation: Competitive pay plus an organization-wide goal-based bonus.
• Paid Time Off: ~5 weeks of PTO to start. Plus a 1-week all-company Winter Holiday Break and paid US holidays. You'll earn 2 extra days for every year you're with Close.
• 80% Work Option: Work with your manager to choose between a standard 5-day week or a 4-day week at 80% pay.
• Parental Leave: Paid leave for primary and secondary caregivers.
• Sabbatical: A 1-month paid sabbatical every 5 years with the team.
• Healthcare (US residents): Two medical plans with Close covering 99% of your premium, plus Dental, Vision, HSA, FSA, and company-paid Long-Term Disability.
• 401k (US residents): We match your contributions up to 6%, vested immediately.