Summary

We are in search of a Backend Software Engineer to join our Gigantic Playground team. In this role, you will play a crucial part in driving technological innovation for our clients, primarily in the business-to-consumer sector. Your primary responsibilities will involve crafting cutting-edge interactive experiences for our clients’ customers. You will explore technology solutions, create prototypes, and ultimately implement production-ready solutions in collaboration with internal, client, and partner teams. Furthermore, you will be encouraged to continuously enhance your skills, share your knowledge with colleagues, and inspire others to excel.

The ideal candidate for the Backend Engineer position is a skilled developer and engineer with a knack for adaptability and a deep curiosity for emerging technologies. You should be self-motivated, capable of independent work, and possess a strong desire for professional growth. Additionally, you should thrive in a collaborative team environment, prioritize end-user experiences, and have a firm grasp of project lifecycles. Your commitment to delivering high-quality work within a fast-paced environment while ensuring user satisfaction is paramount.

The Gigantic Playground team specializes in envisioning and implementing innovative ways for end-users to interact with technology, often in ways that may not resemble traditional technology. The team oversees the entire process, from ideation and architecture to the development and installation of Gigantic Playground experiences, in partnership with our clients.

Job Responsibilities

• Assist in providing effort estimates and solution ideas for customer requirements. Assist in presenting solutions and options to client business stakeholders.
• Engage in technical discovery sessions with clients and internal stakeholders.
• Participate in the development process, solution design, and implementation to help ensure on-time, on-budget, and high-quality delivery of client projects.
• Contribute to refining processes and practices to achieve delivery excellence, team satisfaction, and client contentment.
• Research new technologies.
• Promote knowledge and skill development among peers and client staff to support future growth at both the agency and client levels.
• Collaborate in creating prototypes and proofs-of-concept for rapid learning, validation, and iteration.

Essential Skills

• Comfortable with SaaS and cloud-based solutions.
• Strong presentation and communication skills.
• Experience participating in requirements gathering and technical/non-technical documentation.
• Familiarity with ALM tools (e.g., Jira, TeamCity, TFS, Git).
• Understanding of agile principles, including scrum and backlog management.
• Self-driven, dynamic, and exceptional problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to extract valuable lessons from both successful and unsuccessful projects while maintaining a positive attitude towards learning from past experiences.
• Proven expertise in backend development (REST APIs, Backend, DB modeling).
• Proficiency in Linux or MacOS command-line tools and Bash shell scripting.
• Strong awareness of web performance factors (CDN, caching, etc.)
• Experience with automated testing for the backend.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, systems management, another engineering discipline, or equivalent field experience.

Requirements

• 5+ years of industry experience.
• Backend development experience (REST APIs, Backend, DB modeling).
• Broad programming skills (e.g., NodeJS, JavaScript, SQL, C#, Python, etc.)
• Expertise with platforms like RabbitMQ, MongoDB, and ExpressJS.
• Ability to design and develop highly reliable, fault-tolerant systems.
• Exposure to Automated Testing and Unit Testing.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies.
• Experience using Docker/Container technologies for development and production.
• Experience with databases.

Bonus Skills

• Experience in client-facing roles with a consultative focus (agency or business consulting).
• Expertise in Cloud-First Solutions.
• Front-end development experience (Web UX/UI, HTML/CSS, Mobile Responsive).
• Expertise with browser-based JavaScript & connecting to REST APIs.
• Experience with mobile technologies like Flutter, React Native, Swift, and Kotlin.
• Experience with Chef, Ansible, and Cloud CI/CD.
• DevOps Experience.
• Background in Test-Driven Design.