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Staff Backend Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

NxT Level

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Staff Backend Engineer Location: 3 days in-office in San Francisco, CA Employment Type: Full-time Experience: 8+ years Focus: Backend Architecture, Marketplace Infrastructure, Microservices, EKS, AI ...

NxT Level

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Staff Backend Engineer Location: 3 days in-office in San Francisco, CA Employment Type: Full-time Experience: 8+ years Focus: Backend Architecture, Marketplace Infrastructure, Microservices, EKS, AI ...

NxT Level

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Staff Backend Engineer Location: 3 days in-office in San Francisco, CA Employment Type: Full-time Experience: 8+ years Focus: Backend Architecture, Marketplace Infrastructure, Microservices, EKS, AI ...

CMP.jobs

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA

We need a Staff Backend Engineer with 8+ years of backend engineering experience, strong CS fundamentals, and deep knowledge of backend technologies. You should be comfortable architecting and ...

BAM Ventures

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$220 - $270/hr

About the Role We're seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. You'll design, build, and ship across greenfield products and ...

BAM Ventures

Staff Backend Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$20 - $230/hr

About the Role Join our fast-growing startup as a Staff Backend Engineer and help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. We are a dynamic, high-growth company ...

Sift

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

As a Staff Backend Engineer, you will design and build scalable platforms for ingesting large amounts of data while defining core architecture and collaborating with peers on engineering culture and ...

Arena Club

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

About the Role We're seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. You'll design, build, and ship across greenfield products and ...

Athelas

Staff Backend Engineer

Mountain View, CA · On-site

Athelas is revolutionizing healthcare technology, and they are seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to enhance the healthcare experience through building and scaling their systems. The role involves ...

Athelas

Staff Backend Engineer

Mountain View, CA · On-site

Athelas is revolutionizing healthcare technology, and they are seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to enhance the healthcare experience through building and scaling their systems. The role involves ...

Arena Club

Staff Backend Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

About the Role Join our fast-growing startup as a Staff Backend Engineer and help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. We are a dynamic, high-growth company ...

Altruist

Staff Back End Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · Hybrid

The opportunity Altruist is in the midst of an exceptional growth phase and we're excited to hire Staff Back End Engineers to join our growing Engineering organization. We have multiple teams hiring ...

Altruist

Staff Back End Engineer

San Francisco, CA · Hybrid

The opportunity Altruist is in the midst of an exceptional growth phase and we're excited to hire Staff Back End Engineers to join our growing Engineering organization. We have multiple teams hiring ...

Giga AI Inc

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$290K - $400K/yr

DoorDash and Giga Partnership The Role We're looking for a staff engineer to help shape the technical direction of our backend systems. You'll lead complex projects, make architectural decisions that ...

Giga

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$180 - $260/hr

DoorDash and Giga Partnership The Role We're looking for a staff engineer to help shape the technical direction of our backend systems. You'll lead complex projects, make architectural decisions that ...

Sift Science, Inc

Staff Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$200K - $260K/yr

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or another STEM discipline * 7+ years of experience in backend or infrastructure roles. * Strong understanding of distributed systems ...

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Showing results 1-20

All JobsStaff Backend Engineer JobsStaff Backend Engineer Jobs in California

Staff Backend Engineer information

See California salary details

$59.7K

$145.7K

$196.4K

How much do staff backend engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 25, 2026, the average yearly pay for staff backend engineer in California is $145,728.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $122,400.00 and $169,700.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

Are staff backend engineers still in demand?

Staff backend engineers remain in high demand due to the ongoing need for scalable server-side systems, cloud infrastructure, and expertise in programming languages like Java, Python, and Go. Companies seek experienced engineers to lead complex projects, improve system performance, and implement new technologies, making this role a stable career choice.

What does a staff backend engineer do?

A staff backend engineer designs, develops, and maintains the server-side components of software applications, ensuring scalability, performance, and security. They often lead technical initiatives, review code, and collaborate with cross-functional teams using tools like cloud platforms and version control systems. This role typically requires strong programming skills in languages such as Java, Python, or Go, and experience with database management and system architecture.

What are popular job titles related to Staff Backend Engineer jobs in California?

For Staff Backend Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Staff Backend Engineer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Staff Backend Engineer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Staff Backend Engineer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Staff Backend Engineer job openings:

Staff Backend Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Staff Backend Engineer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 74% Full Time, 18% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 6% Contract. Highlights an 93% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 6% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $145,728 per year, or $70.1 per hour.

Staff Backend Engineer

NxT Level

San Francisco, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 14 days ago

Job description

Staff Backend Engineer
Location: 3 days in-office in San Francisco, CA
Employment Type: Full-time
Experience: 8+ years
Focus: Backend Architecture, Marketplace Infrastructure, Microservices, EKS, AI-Native Engineering
About Our Client
Our client is a fast-growing consumer marketplace platform expanding into new collectibles categories. The company is scaling quickly and building the backend infrastructure needed to support high-volume transactions, new vertical launches, and a more modern, reliable engineering foundation.
This is an opportunity to join a high-ownership engineering team working on large-scale backend systems, marketplace infrastructure, and category expansion in a fast-moving consumer environment.
About the Role
Our client is hiring a Staff Backend Engineer to help scale the backbone of their platform as they expand into new collectibles categories.
This person will be a highly opinionated technical architect who can own large projects end-to-end - from designing container-based systems to launching new product categories and migrating legacy systems into scalable microservices.
This is a strong fit for an engineer who can balance greenfield architecture with legacy modernization, enjoys working in a high-scale marketplace environment, and is comfortable using AI-powered development tools as part of their daily workflow.
What You'll Do
  • Design and scale container-based backend architecture using EKS
  • Help scale backend systems from roughly 1.5B to 2.5B+ monthly transactions
  • Build backend systems for new category launches with unique inventory, marketplace, and scaling requirements
  • Own major backend projects from architecture through implementation, deployment, and iteration
  • Migrate monolithic repositories into microservices while keeping existing systems stable
  • Improve production reliability through observability, monitoring, and scalability planning
  • Work with tools like Datadog and Sentry to identify, troubleshoot, and improve system performance
  • Partner closely with DevOps, product, and cross-functional teams to ship reliable marketplace infrastructure
  • Use AI-powered engineering tools, including Claude Code and Cursor, as part of the development and PR workflow
  • Balance speed, reliability, and long-term architecture in a fast-paced consumer marketplace environment

What We're Looking For
  • 8+ years of backend engineering experience
  • Strong experience designing and scaling backend systems in production
  • Experience with container-based infrastructure, ideally EKS or Kubernetes-based environments
  • Strong understanding of microservices architecture and monolith-to-microservices migrations
  • Experience building systems that support high-volume transactions, marketplace workflows, or consumer-facing platforms
  • Strong production reliability instincts, including observability, monitoring, and scalability planning
  • Experience working with tools like Datadog, Sentry, or similar observability platforms
  • Ability to own large technical projects end-to-end
  • Strong architectural opinions with the ability to collaborate in a low-ego team environment
  • Comfort using AI-powered development tools as part of the daily engineering workflow
  • High ownership, strong communication, and a bias toward shipping

Why This Opportunity
  • Join a fast-growing marketplace platform expanding into new collectibles categories
  • Own backend architecture that supports billions of transactions each month
  • Work on both greenfield systems and meaningful legacy modernization
  • Help launch new verticals with unique inventory and scaling challenges
  • Partner with a high-ownership, low-ego engineering team
  • Use modern AI-powered engineering workflows to move faster and improve development quality
  • Step into a Staff-level role with real technical influence across architecture, reliability, and platform scale

Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a Staff-level backend engineer who has scaled production systems, owned complex architecture, and helped modernize backend platforms without breaking the business.
They are opinionated but collaborative, comfortable operating in ambiguity, and excited to build reliable systems for a fast-growing consumer marketplace.

Apply