Job description

STAFF PLATFORM ENGINEER - Role: Full-time, remote-first (significant Eastern Time overlap) - Location: Remote in Canada (with preference for candidates based in the GTA/Toronto) - Comp: $200,000-$250,000 base CAD + equity ABOUT US We're building an AI-native platform that helps marketing and creative teams at top e-commerce brands understand which ads are working and ship more winning creative across the major ad platforms. We're a Series B remote-first team. We've been growing 2.5x year over year, led by second-time founders (currently just under 100 headcount). AI isn't a feature here: it's the foundation of our product and of how we build. HOW WE WORK We ship fast and own what we ship: small teams with full ownership, releasing more than once a day. Our development is AI first: we build AI agents into the product, and our engineers work the same way, directing AI coding tools through much of the output while owning everything that ships. This role sits on our platform team: designing, building, and maintaining the backend APIs and services the rest of engineering builds on, as our AI workflow platform scales to many times its current surface. Sample projects include building a unified API for our insights data and storing metrics from our data providers at scale. The stack is Node.js, TypeScript, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB, with React on the frontend. We're remote by default with real in-person time: product, engineering, and design get together for a focused build week every couple of months, plus a summer retreat. ABOUT YOU You're a Lead/Staff level Backend Engineer who has spent most of your career at fast-scaling startups, taking products from zero to one with high ownership. You're pragmatic and quick. You optimize for shipped customer value over polish, you're energized rather than drained by shifting priorities, and you create clarity when it isn't handed to you. YOU BRING: - You've architected backend systems that other teams build on, owning the service boundaries, data models, and API contracts in production (Node.js and TypeScript; strong engineers from similar stacks transfer well) - You've led complex, multi-engineer backend projects from design through production, and been the technical decision-maker when trade-offs were contested - AI-native development habits: you direct AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar) through much of your output, and rigorously review and own what ships - You've designed asynchronous, event-driven systems (queues, background jobs, messaging) that run under real production load, not just consumed them - You've owned hard third-party integrations end to end, including auth, rate limits, retries, and failure modes (ad-platform APIs like Meta's are a plus) - You've simplified data architecture at scale: schema design, ETL pipelines, and storage choices (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or other document stores) that held up as data volume grew QUALIFICATIONS: - 6+ years building and maintaining large-scale software applications, with recent years operating at a Staff or Lead IC level: setting technical direction, not just executing it - A track record of taking products from 0 to 1, ideally at Series A to C startups - You raise an engineering team's bar: design reviews, mentoring, and standards other engineers adopt - Comfort with a fast pace: short project cycles, evolving requirements, high ownership - Exceptional written and verbal communication, including translating technical issues into business impact - Experience building or integrating LLM-powered product features or agent systems - Able to work with significant overlap to Eastern Time BONUS POINTS: - Founder or founding-engineer experience - Experience with Azure or another public cloud platform - Experience in adtech, martech, or marketing/creative analytics PERKS: - Competitive compensation, including equity for all employees - Health benefits from day one - Monthly health and lifestyle stipend, 20 days PTO, and a $1,500 work-from-home stipend - Remote-first with optional office hubs, in-person build weeks every two months, and a summer retreat - We have a Toronto based office Hub for those wishing to meet in person

Requirements

Must-haves

Role: Full-time, remote-first (significant Eastern Time overlap)
Location: Remote in Canada (with preference for candidates based in the GTA/Toronto)
Comp: $200,000-$250,000 base CAD + equity
We're remote by default with real in-person time: product, engineering, and design get together for a focused build week every couple of months, plus a summer retreat.
You're a Lead/Staff level Backend Engineer who has spent most of your career at fast-scaling startups, taking products from zero to one with high ownership.
You're pragmatic and quick. You optimize for shipped customer value over polish, you're energized rather than drained by shifting priorities, and you create clarity when it isn't handed to you.
You've architected backend systems that other teams build on, owning the service boundaries, data models, and API contracts in production (Node.js and TypeScript; strong engineers from similar stacks transfer well)
You've led complex, multi-engineer backend projects from design through production, and been the technical decision-maker when trade-offs were contested
AI-native development habits: you direct AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar) through much of your output, and rigorously review and own what ships
You've designed asynchronous, event-driven systems (queues, background jobs, messaging) that run under real production load, not just consumed them
You've simplified data architecture at scale: schema design, ETL pipelines, and storage choices (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or other document stores) that held up as data volume grew
6+ years building and maintaining large-scale software applications, with recent years operating at a Staff or Lead IC level: setting technical direction, not just executing it
A track record of taking products from 0 to 1, ideally at Series A to C startups
You raise an engineering team's bar: design reviews, mentoring, and standards other engineers adopt
Comfort with a fast pace: short project cycles, evolving requirements, high ownership
Exceptional written and verbal communication, including translating technical issues into business impact
Experience building or integrating LLM-powered product features or agent systems
Able to work with significant overlap to Eastern Time

Nice-to-haves

You've owned hard third-party integrations end to end, including auth, rate limits, retries, and failure modes (ad-platform APIs like Meta's are a plus)
Founder or founding-engineer experience
Experience with Azure or another public cloud platform
Experience in adtech, martech, or marketing/creative analytics

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

airestapinode.jstypescriptgraphqlreactllmazure

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Pto