Senior Backend (Scala) Software Engineer

✍🏽 About Writer

AI your people will love. That's our vision, and it contains multitudes :-)

AI

your people

will love.

We're filling a big need for generative AI built ground-up for the needs of enterprises and embraced by their teams. As generative AI became a board-level initiative almost overnight for most enterprises, our market matured dramatically and we benefit from that tailwind. Our product is highly differentiated, our roadmap is transformative, and our customers are happy and vocal.

🛣 Traction and backing

• Writer is deployed widely at leading companies like UnitedHealthcare, Accenture, Intuit, UiPath, HubSpot, Spotify, Hilton, Uber, and Deloitte. We have an NRR of +135% and we're just getting started.

• Our inbound funnel is large and growing fast (+3M visitors/month, thousands of weekly ICP trial starts).

• In late 2021, we received a $21M Series A led by Insight Partners, with participation from Google's Gradient Ventures, GTMFund, and a world-class group of founders, operators, and angels.

• We’re thrilled to have raised our Series B with ICONIQ Growth leading this round, with participation from Insight Partners, who led our Series A, along with WndrCo and Balderton Capital, and Aspect Ventures, who led our seed round.

• We're a clear leader in a space receiving significant investor interest, and will be able to make the investments required to maintain that position.

🎯 Why it's the perfect time to join

• Our growth rate is accelerating and we’re thoughtfully and rapidly scaling our team. There's a lot of room to contribute and grow an enduring SaaS company that's emerging as a leader in generative AI. You'll have unquestionably made it happen.

• We have strong PMF. We have strong DAUs and deep usage. People spend hours in Writer. The work you'll do will have a direct impact on some of the top companies in the world — and make work more enjoyable for the users who depend on us to meet their goals.

• Build it, nail it, scale it. We're at 'scale it' and are continually learning. If you like helping turn dirt paths into smooth roads, now is the perfect time to join.

🤓 What we're like

• We connect. We bring our whole selves to work. We're a diverse group on multiple dimensions, and we share that with each other.

• We challenge. We're first principles thinkers, and those principles guide our product and GTM decisions. Things you won't hear at Writer include "Because that's what X wants" or "Company Y does it this way." We're all on the same side as we build Writer our own way.

• We own. Building a company that achieves escape velocity is hard work. We take full ownership over our schedules and our outcomes, because we believe that's the purest-energy way to work that hard.

📈 Our operating cadence

• We're a low-meeting (<4 hours/week for most people) culture, with 1-2 weeks a quarter that are totally meeting-free.

• We've been distributed since day 1, and our distributed processes and rituals are long-engrained.

• There's low overhead, and projects are single-threaded.

• We break down company milestones into quarterly goals and projects, and emphasize by team the one thing that matters the most.

• All of our dashboards and metrics are transparent, live in a single view, and are shared with everyone.

• We're good at communicating async, use DMs and distracting notifications with caution, and respect each other's work hours. And we'd never send you a calendar invite before making sure you're free.

• Weeks are tough, but weekends are sacred.

📐 About this role 

Writer is seeking a talented Backend Engineer with Scala experience to join our dynamic team and contribute to our groundbreaking projects in the enterprise generative AI space. 

At Writer, we believe in using the power of AI to unlock the potential of the enterprise. With the help of our Backend Engineer, we can continue to build the most advanced language model available in the industry and revolutionize how companies interact with AI. 

As a Backend Engineer, you will play a crucial role in designing, developing, and maintaining the backend infrastructure that powers our systems. You will collaborate closely with our cross-functional teams  to build scalable and efficient solutions. Your expertise in Scala will be instrumental in implementing robust and high-performance backend services.

🦸🏻‍♀️ Your responsibilities 

• Design, develop, and maintain backend systems and APIs using Scala and related technologies

• Collaborate with data scientists and machine learning engineers to integrate AI models into the backend infrastructure

• Optimize and scale backend services to handle large volumes of data and ensure high performance

• Implement data storage and retrieval mechanisms, ensuring data integrity and security.

• Work closely with frontend developers to define and implement APIs that meet the requirements of the user interface

• Collaborate with SREs to deploy and monitor backend services in a cloud environment

• Conduct code reviews, provide constructive feedback, and ensure adherence to coding standards

• Stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies, and proactively suggest improvements to enhance the backend infrastructure

⭐️ Is this you? 

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

• Strong proficiency in Scala, with at least 3 years of professional experience.

• Solid understanding of backend development principles, including RESTful APIs, microservices architecture, and database design.

• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

• Knowledge of distributed systems, scalability, and performance optimization techniques.

• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and agile development methodologies.

• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

• Strong communication skills and ability to effectively articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

🍩 Benefits

We don’t spend frivolously, but we do take care of our own. Besides smart, sincere colleagues and a vibrant work environment, we are proud to offer:

• Employer-covered medical plans, dental, vision, and life insurance

• FSA

• Competitive parental leave policy (parents actually work here!)

• Generous PTO

• Company stock options

• 401k plan with employer matching

• Flexible schedules

Writer is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity.  We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal law. Under the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.