Backend Engineer

ABOUT SPHINX

Sphinx builds software to solve complex national security problems in Space. Founded by engineers and technologists with deep experience across commercial and defense technology, we were frustrated by the outdated and insecure technology America's service members are forced to rely on. We're here to do better. 

We’re focused on building modern, scalable products with an emphasis on using open source technologies. Expect talented, motivated, and interesting colleagues who emphasize collaboration, transparency, and individual responsibility.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Sphinx is hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to join our team, building the next generation of mission planning and command and control software for space communications programs. This team is charged with creating modern, resilient services and capabilities to service the US Government for the next decade and beyond.

As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will play a key role in building a cutting-edge communications platform for US government satellites. Sphinx is hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to join our Space Communications team, building a ground communications and data-transport platform for US government satellites. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will lead the development of core platform services and design and build technology to support the operations of various US  government satellites. You'll work as both an individual contributor and a lead for more junior engineers.

You will have an outsized role in determining what we build and how we work. You'll work as both an individual contributor and a lead for more junior engineers.

What you will be focusing on:

• Building multi-tenant services on public cloud platforms like AWS
• Building, architecting, and consuming APIs and backend services as part of the platform ecosystem with an emphasis on automation, testing, and security
• Advocating for improvements to product quality, security, and performance that have a particular impact on your team and others
• Supporting junior engineering talent with mentorship or technical guidance
• Interacting with customers and partners to help them integrate with our services
• Scale the services and solve interesting Space Communication challenges

You might be a good fit if you have:

• 5+ years of progressively responsible software engineering experience
• Have extensive experience with Python, FastAPI, Postgres, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform*
• Demonstrable in-depth knowledge of at least one commercial cloud platform and its associated services 
• Led the architecture, development, and building of backend services and APIs to ensure performance, security, and reliability