Lead Software Engineer - Backend

Description:

Whisker is the maker of Litter-Robot, Feeder-Robot, and At Whisker, we believe pet parenthood can always get better.

As leading innovators in pet tech and refined pet accessories, we work tirelessly to solve problems and deliver smarter insights for pet parents while enriching the lives of pets. Whether it's a self-cleaning litter box that automates scooping, an automatic feeder that helps pets develop healthier eating habits, or a modern cat tree that delights both humans and felines, we strive to deliver better solutions for consumers while transforming pet care along the way. To us, having a pet is the best thing ever. At Whisker, life together just keeps getting better.

Whisker is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Juneau, Wisconsin, with 700+ passionate team members. Whisker is building a presence in Austin, TX. We work in person 4+ days a week.

What You'll Do:

As a technical team lead you will develop and maintain robust services backend APIs and global cloud infrastructure that power Whisker's digital ecosystem. This role ensures high availability, scalability, and reliability while enabling seamless integrations and enhancing customer experiences across all products worldwide.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.

Designs and implements high-quality, scalable, and maintainable backend API services

Writes clean, efficient, and well-documented code following company standards

Develops and executes unit tests, integration tests, and supports system-level testing efforts

Reviews code written by other team members and provides constructive feedback to ensure quality and consistency

Troubleshoots and resolves technical issues throughout the development lifecycle

Leads and mentors a software development team, providing guidance on architecture, design, coding standards, and best practices

Orchestrates seamless integration between API, infrastructure, and services teams, ensuring cohesive efforts result in exceptional performance and reliability across all products

Defines and tracks KPIs for API performance, uptime, and reliability across global regions

Establishes and enforces best practices for securing APIs, infrastructure, and data across international markets while maintaining compliance with GDPR and other global regulations

Drives the adoption of modern technologies, frameworks, and practices to keep Whisker at the forefront of API, infrastructure, and global service development

Collaborates with Product, Program, Engineering, and Operations teams to ensure seamless integration of backend services with internal components and customer facing applications

Balances short-term deliverables with the long-term strategic vision

Manages technical dependencies between Services Engineering and other teams such as Mobile, Data, and Firmware

Identifies risks and proposes mitigations to ensure timely delivery

Leads crisis management efforts to quickly resolve critical service and infrastructure issues, minimizing downtime and customer impact on a global scale

Regularly reports progress, challenges, and achievements to stakeholders

Represents the API and Infrastructure teams in executive meetings

Achieves best practices through proactive communication, cross-functional workflows, and implementation of integrated development processes

Creates and maintains software specifications, technical architecture documents, and implementation plans

Contributes to defining the development roadmap and ensuring alignment with business goals

Will perform additional duties are required

Requirements:

What You'll Bring:

Bachelor's and/or Master's in Computer Science or a related field and / or equivalent years of experience

6+ years of experience, including in engineering lead roles

Strong expertise in services backend API development, including RESTful and GraphQL design, performance tuning, and security best practices

Proven experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and services like EC2, S3, RDS, and IoT-specific components, with a strong focus on multi-region deployments for performance and reliability

Expertise in IaC (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK) and microservices architecture & deployment (Kubernetes)

Experience with CDN technologies and strategies for optimizing global content delivery

Strong understanding of network protocols, database design, and system optimization techniques for global-scale applications

Experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices to enable efficient software delivery

Has a proven track record of delivering complex, globally distributed projects at scale and on time, ensuring high-quality outcomes through rigorous architecture, execution, testing, and automation

Excellent communication (verbal & written) and presentation skills

Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.

Ability to maintain a professional atmosphere in a fast-paced environment with numerous interactions and interruptions

A high degree of initiative, self-motivation, and ability to motivate others

Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with Team Members and colleagues

Comfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)

Benefits & Purrks:

Join a tenacious, inventive company that empowers team members to chart their own path, lead by grounding decisions in the "why", and has a strong sense of empathy and openness to new perspectives. Be a part of exciting growth, work with incredible people, and create tomorrow's pet products-plus a whole lot of extras. You will also be provided with:

Premium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance

Paid parental leave

Whisker Parents Program

1 day "pawternity" leave for new pet adoption

Pet Insurance Discount

401K match

Flexible spending accounts

Company-paid short-term disability and life insurance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Generous paid time off

14 Paid Holidays

Top of the line equipment

Pet-friendly office

Whisker products and swag

Continuing education Support

On-site gym with Peloton

Referral program

Statement of Inclusivity:

We believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.

Please ensure to regularly check your email spam folder for any communication from Whisker to avoid missing important updates regarding your application status.

Permanent