Staff Software Engineer, Backend
Staff backend engineer at Tinder (New York) designing, building, and operating scalable, resilient distributed services that power the dating app, running on Kubernetes/ECS. Needs strong skills in a backend language (Java, Node.js, Go, or C++), 5+ years of experience, and high-traffic distributed systems expertise.
- Compensation
- $235K–$240K / yr
- Location
- New York, United States
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Staff
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Backend
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Excellent knowledge and experience with a backend language like Java, Node.js, Go, C++
- BS/MS in Computer Science or equivalent field with 5+ years of industry work experience
- Strong Computer Science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, and coding
- Designing and building distributed backend systems handling high volumes of traffic
- Handling ambiguous business requirements with excellent prioritization, time management, and focus on execution
- Design, develop and operate scalable and resilient distributed services on Kubernetes or ECS
Nice to have
- Experience with cloud computing systems such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
- Experience with NoSQL such as DynamoDB or Cassandra
- Experience with Redis, ElasticSearch, Kafka, and Spark
- Experience with TypeScript
- Experience with Agile development methodology and CI/CD
- Experience with Docker containers
Full description
**Our Mission
**Launched in 2012, Tinder® revolutionized how people meet, growing from 1 match to one billion matches in just two years. This rapid growth demonstrates its ability to fulfill a fundamental human need: real connection. Today, the app has been downloaded over 630 million times, leading to over 97 billion matches, serving approximately 50 million users per month in 190 countries and 45+ languages - a scale unmatched by any other app in the category. In 2024, Tinder won four Effie Awards for its first-ever global brand campaign, “It Starts with a Swipe”™
**Our Values
Take the Lead
**We don't ghost our work or each other. Just as users don't leave their matches hanging, we don't let each other down.
**Move Fast
**We have a bias for action and urgency. Something that could be done tomorrow would be better if done today.
**Better Together
**We keep connection at the heart of dating and at the heart of how we work. Just as our users are better when they connect with others, so are we when we collaborate.
**Real Talk
**We say the hard thing the human way. Just as we ask our users to behave with kindness and candor in our community, we expect Team Tinder to do the same.
**Safety First
**We act with integrity, transparency, and consistency so people feel safe—whether they're swiping, matching, or working alongside us.
**Spark Fun
**We have fun to unlock creativity, fuel innovation, and help us build better experiences for daters.
The Engineering team is responsible for building innovative features and resilient systems that bring people together. We're always experimenting with new features to engage with our members. Although we are a high-scale tech company, the member-to-engineer ratio is very high—making the level of impact each engineer gets to have at Tinder enormous.
As a Staff Backend Engineer at Tinder, you will have an outsized impact and ownership of the most visible aspects of the Tinder App. We are deeply invested in challenging norms, constantly improving architecture design, exploring emergent tech and ideas, and leveraging new technologies in interesting ways to deliver an app that is widely known the world over.
**In This Role, You Will
- Design, develop and operate scalable and resilient distributed services that run on Kubernetes or ECS
- Collaborate with various functional teams across Tinder on the expansion of our service platform
- Influence the team roadmap and product development