Backend Engineer (Node.js/TypeScript)

About the role

You will be a core technical founder building the backend systems and infrastructure that power Known. You will design, implement, and scale APIs, real‑time communication pipelines, and data architectures that serve millions of requests.

Key responsibilities

• Design and build scalable backend services in Node.js/TypeScript, including RESTful APIs, background jobs, and data pipelines.
• Architect, tune, and maintain PostgreSQL databases with complex schemas, indexing, and transaction management.
• Implement real‑time communication using WebSockets for chat and WebRTC for audio/video.
• Integrate third‑party services such as OpenAI/Anthropic LLMs, payment platforms, SMS/push notifications, and CDNs with robust error handling.
• Collaborate with AI/ML, product, and design teams to expose model predictions and support experimentation workflows.
• Own infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, alerting, and cloud cost optimization.
• Design caching and performance strategies to enable 10x growth without major rewrites.

Required profile

• 4–6 years of experience building production backend systems for consumer or high‑traffic products.
• Strong proficiency in TypeScript and Node.js, with deep knowledge of async patterns and performance optimization.
• Expert‑level expertise in PostgreSQL, including complex queries, transactions, and indexing.
• Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP) and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience designing and scaling RESTful APIs, handling authentication, rate limiting, and versioning.
• Familiarity with real‑time technologies (WebSockets, WebRTC) and observability best practices.

Required skills

• Node.js
• TypeScript
• PostgreSQL
• AWS or GCP
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• WebSockets
• WebRTC
• CI/CD pipelines
• Monitoring & observability
• Caching strategies
• RESTful API design