Lead Backend Software Engineer

Join Our Team as a Lead Backend Software Engineer

Community Energy Labs is on a mission to tackle climate change by reducing the carbon footprint of buildings through our innovative, machine learning-powered SaaS platform. We are seeking a Lead Backend Engineer with a strong background in building resilient event-driven microservices and a deep hands-on DevOps skillset.

About the Role

As the first full-time engineer on our team, you will partner with our Head of Engineering to design and implement solutions to our most important technical challenges as we transition from a successful prototype to production. This role requires a wide-ranging skill set and offers a rigorous yet rewarding experience.

Key Responsibilities

Backend Software Design and Implementation

• Collaborate with the Head of Engineering to understand stakeholder needs and create architectural designs and technical specifications.
• Implement efficient, resilient, scalable microservices, libraries, and data pipeline components.
• Write automated tests and perform ad-hoc testing on systems as needed.

Infrastructure and DevOps

• Define our DevOps best practices and research cloud infrastructure tools and solutions.
• Implement configuration management and observability systems and dashboards.
• Participate in the DevOps lifecycle to support our production systems, including on-call rotation.

Collaboration, Mentorship, & Communication

• Mentor junior team members, providing encouragement and constructive feedback.
• Create and maintain technical documentation to facilitate knowledge sharing.
• Review and provide feedback on code changes to ensure code quality and maintain best practices.
• Participate in planning and agile rituals to prioritize work and coordinate with team members.

Qualifications

Experience Required

• 5+ years of backend software development experience, preferably in a microservice-oriented SaaS platform.
• 3+ years of hands-on DevOps experience, owning mission-critical production systems in an AWS or GCP environment.
• 3+ years of experience with event-driven or streaming service architectures.

Necessary Skills/Abilities

• Expert-level proficiency with Python and common libraries (SQLAlchemy, Alembic, FastAPI).
• Strong proficiency with Docker, networking tools, and concepts like VPC.
• Strong proficiency with SQL and relational databases.
• Proficiency with AWS or GCP container runtime environments (ECS, EKS, etc).
• Experience with observability tools like Grafana/Prometheus, New Relic, Data Dog.
• Strong English-language written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience with API design, BACnet, or other building control technologies.
• Experience with IoT platforms and machine learning pipelines.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform.
• Experience implementing frontend systems in React or similar technologies.
• Experience working in a startup environment.

Work Environment

This is a fully remote role with some travel responsibilities for partner and customer prospect visits, conferences, and occasional company get-togethers. The position is full-time and may occasionally require extra hours and weekend work.

Why Join Us?

Community Energy Labs is a small team where versatility is essential. We embrace a wide range of responsibilities and functions. We are committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, ownership, curiosity, and accountability.

If our mission and this job speak to you, and you have the interest and ability to work smart, learn, and grow with us, we encourage you to apply!