Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Platform)

We are looking for a Staff or Principal-level software engineer to join our Compute team.

Hex's Compute team owns one of the hardest performance problems in the product: our users do everything from analyzing 100-line CSV files to querying petabyte-scale Snowflake tables, and in all cases they expect it to feel fast. We power a technical product that our customers trust to accurately retrieve data from their own systems to then efficiently execute polyglot backed analytics workflows.

This is a backend-heavy role with a focus on computation, performance, data systems design, and systems architecture. You'll drive architectural decisions that compound over years, write the technical designs that shape how the team builds, and directly influence the long-term trajectory of Hex's compute platform — all while staying deeply hands-on in the codebase.

What you will do:

Evolve Hex's execution architecture — the graph-based system that compiles, plans, and runs user notebooks — including proposing and building entirely new compute components that support faster, smarter execution

Drive parallel execution strategies and caching approaches that reduce latency and minimize unnecessary round trips to external data warehouses

Instrument complex systems to surface and diagnose performance problems to give the team and our customers a much clearer picture of where time is being spent

Collaborate across engineering and product to support new platform capabilities, such as building an internal query language that compiles to the appropriate dialect for any connected warehouse

Author and review technical proposals, and mentor engineers to implement ambitious designs effectively

Propose and roadmap long-term designs with clear milestones across quarters

About You:

10+ years of backend engineering experience, with a strong focus on computation, performance, database/storage optimization, and systems architecture

Experience with parallel execution strategies, caching strategies, and the trade-offs involved in remote data warehouse computation. Strong systems thinker with solid intuitions around storage, database performance, algorithms, and data structures

A track record of solving difficult, large-scale systems design problems involving significant data and operational complexity — writing code and reviewing code of your teammates

The ability to move from abstract, vague problems to well-articulated, well-reasoned technical solutions — and to roadmap ambitious designs with clear milestones across quarters

A strong communicator; comfortable leading technical work and collaborating across a remote-first team

Python and/or TypeScript required; experience with both is a plus

Nice to have:

Working knowledge of Kubernetes, Docker and cloud infrastructure

Some frontend experience — this is a backend-focused role, but a willingness to occasionally wire a feature all the way through is a plus

This role is fully remote anywhere within the US Eastern timezone, with the option to work from our NYC office.

Our stack

Our product is a web-based notebook and app authoring platform. Our frontend is built with Typescript and React, using a combination of Apollo GraphQL and Redux for managing application state and data. On the backend, we also use Typescript to power an Express/Apollo GraphQL server that interacts with Postgres, Redis, and Kubernetes to manage our database and Python kernels. Our backend is tightly integrated with our infrastructure and CI/CD, where we use a combination of Terraform, Helm, and AWS to deploy and maintain our stack.

In addition to our unique culture, Hex proudly offers a competitive total rewards package, including but not limited to, market-benched salary & equity, comprehensive health benefits, and flexible paid time off.