[Hiring] Senior Backend Engineer - Data Systems & Architecture @Seesaw

Role Description

Own critical data architecture decisions in a dedicated, director-led engineering team shaping Seesaw's technology foundation.

Your Team

• Join a small, dedicated group of senior engineers for one of Seesaw's critical technology initiatives.
• Focused mandate to make consequential improvements to the foundations of our production platform.
• Reports directly to our Director of Platforms, who serves as the team's engineering manager.
• Work closely with experienced Core Platform engineers.
• Meaningful technical ownership and direct access to engineering leadership.
• Opportunity to shape systems supporting millions of educators, students, and families.
• Emphasis on thoughtful architecture, hands-on execution, and incremental delivery without compromising security or reliability.

Your Role

We're looking for a senior backend engineer with exceptional data modeling instincts and experience evolving data-intensive production software.

Your Responsibilities

• Design and improve data models, access patterns, schemas, and data contracts for critical backend services.
• Evaluate data store approaches, including NoSQL, search, and relational options.
• Build reliable data evolution tooling, including schema changes, backfills, reindexing, reconciliation, validation, and safe rollback.
• Improve correctness, consistency, throughput, and observability of high-volume data workflows.
• Partner with application, infrastructure, and data engineers on data lifecycle and production readiness.
• Lead technical investigations, document tradeoffs, write production code, and support staged releases.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of professional backend engineering experience with deep ownership of complex production data systems.
• Strong Python skills and experience developing production services on AWS or a comparable cloud platform.
• Strong NoSQL and relational fundamentals, including DynamoDB access-pattern design.
• Production experience with Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or a comparable search system.
• Hands-on experience with schema evolution and large-scale data changes.
• Ability to balance long-term architectural quality with incremental delivery in a live SaaS system.
• Strong independent delivery, clear communication, and comfort owning consequential work.

Nice to Have

• Hands-on experience with DynamoDB global tables, DynamoDB Streams, or comparable multi-region replication.
• Experience with CDC, event-driven processing, high-throughput applications, or online data migrations.
• Experience optimizing data infrastructure reliability, performance, or cloud cost.
• Experience with large-scale object storage (S3) lifecycle and reference tracking.
• Experience with PostgreSQL or other relational production data stores.

What Success Looks Like

Critical data workflows are easier to understand and operate; important architectural decisions are supported by evidence; and substantial production changes are shipped safely with measurable correctness and rollback safeguards.

Contract Engagement

This is a senior, hands-on individual-contributor contract opportunity with a dedicated team led by the Director of Platforms. Engagement duration, location/working arrangement, and commercial terms will be discussed during recruiting.

Seesaw values diverse perspectives and welcomes qualified candidates from all backgrounds. We aim to build inclusive teams that reflect the educators, students, and families we serve.

Our company participates in E-Verify.