[Hiring] Software Engineer III @Perch Energy

Role Description

We’re seeking a Lead Backend Engineer to join our Engineering team and help build scalable, reliable systems that power our platform. You are a collaborative, high-ownership engineer who enjoys solving complex backend problems and designing systems that stand the test of time. You bring a long-term, systems-thinking mindset and are excited to work on software that expands renewable energy access to millions of households. Our domain operates in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, so we value engineers who are curious, adaptable, and comfortable navigating ambiguity.

This role is fully remote, based in India and offers the opportunity to meaningfully influence backend architecture, shape engineering best practices, and work with a mission-driven, high-performing team.

What you’ll own

• Backend architecture ownership: Define, evolve, and document backend architecture and data models with a focus on scalability, performance, and reliability.
• API ownership: Own the design and quality of GraphQL and backend APIs, including schema design, versioning strategy, and backward compatibility.
• Technical decision-making: Lead design discussions, write technical proposals, evaluate trade-offs, and make decisions that balance speed with long-term system health.
• Production ownership: Be accountable for backend services in production, including monitoring, incident response, root-cause analysis, and follow-through improvements.
• Quality and standards: Establish and uphold backend engineering standards around testing, observability, security, documentation, and code quality.
• Delivery ownership: Own backend deliverables end-to-end—from requirements and estimation to implementation, rollout, and iteration.
• Cross-team alignment: Act as the primary backend point of contact for Product, Frontend, and other stakeholders on complex initiatives.
• Mentorship and leverage: Multiply team impact by mentoring engineers, reviewing designs and code, and unblocking others.
• Platform evolution: Proactively identify technical debt, scalability risks, and opportunities to simplify and harden the platform.

What you’ll do

• Design and build scalable, resilient backend systems using Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL.
• Lead backend implementation for complex features and integrations, including external systems such as Salesforce.
• Own and evolve GraphQL services that power frontend and partner-facing applications.
• Partner closely with frontend engineers to define clean, efficient backend–frontend contracts.
• Improve system reliability through testing, monitoring, alerting, and operational best practices.
• Ship production-ready code frequently using a modern CI/CD pipeline.
• Review code and designs with a strong focus on maintainability, performance, and long-term impact.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience building and operating high-availability backend systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading backend initiatives and owning systems beyond individual features.
• Strong fundamentals in system design, API design, and data modelling.
• Ability to clearly communicate technical decisions and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar of a team.
• Comfort working in ambiguous problem spaces and iterating toward robust solutions.

Requirements

• Strong experience with Ruby and Ruby on Rails.
• Experience designing and owning GraphQL APIs (Apollo or similar).
• Advanced SQL skills and experience with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases.
• Hands-on experience with AWS services such as S3, SQS, SES, EventBridge, or similar cloud-native services.
• Containerization using Docker.
• Exposure to distributed systems or platform engineering.
• Familiarity with background jobs, async processing, and event-driven workflows.

Bonus points for

• Experience integrating with Salesforce or other enterprise platforms.
• Strong opinions (loosely held) on backend architecture, scalability, and system design.
• Exposure to AI-assisted engineering—such as using modern AI tools for coding, debugging, testing, documentation, or exploring LLM-based workflows in backend systems.
• Familiarity with observability and distributed tracing tools such as OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Prometheus, or similar.
• Experience with container orchestration and deployment using Kubernetes and Helm charts.
• Passion for sustainability, clean energy, and building mission-driven products.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation based on market standards.
• Flexible Leave Policy.
• Office is in the heart of the city in case you need to step in for any purpose.
• Medical Insurance (1+5 Family Members) with comprehensive coverage including accident policy and life insurance.
• Annual performance cycle.
• Quarterly team engagement activities and rewards & recognitions.
• L&D programs to foster professional growth.
• A supportive engineering culture that values diversity, empathy, teamwork, trust, and efficiency.