Senior Backend Engineer - job 1 of 2

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Jerry, your primary responsibilities include developing and optimizing backend systems for our innovative DriveShield™ project, ensuring scalability and high performance, and collaborating with data scientists to integrate models into production. You’ll also oversee system design and architecture while focusing on critical factors like service reliability and fault tolerance, ultimately contributing to our ambitious goal of expanding from 5M to 50M customers.

To be considered for the Senior Backend Engineer role at Jerry, candidates should possess a minimum of 5 years of software engineering experience, proficiency in multiple programming languages—preferably Java and Python—expertise in technologies like Kafka and Flink, and experience in building stream processing applications. Familiarity with AWS, system programming, and working with geospatial data is a plus, though not strictly required.

The work culture at Jerry is fast-paced, innovative, and supportive. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you'll work alongside passionate individuals who thrive on solving real-world problems and embrace a mindset of continuous improvement. We value independence, allowing you to take initiative while working collaboratively in a team that shares your drive for excellence in a high-growth startup environment.

At Jerry, we believe in nurturing talent and supporting our team's career growth. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you'll have opportunities to learn and implement cutting-edge technologies in the AI and machine learning space. Additionally, we encourage professional development and continuous learning, offering access to training resources that can help you enhance your skills and advance in your career.

The Senior Backend Engineer position is crucial for Jerry's mission to disrupt the car ownership industry. Your expertise will be instrumental in building robust backend systems that ensure a seamless user experience and support our ambitious growth goals. By enhancing driver safety and improving the functionality of our AI-powered app, you'll play a key role in shaping the future landscape of car ownership for millions.

In your response, emphasize specific projects you've worked on that involved Kafka, detailing your role, the challenges faced, and how you overcame them. Highlight your understanding of how Kafka's architecture supports scalable and fault-tolerant data pipelines.

When answering, discuss techniques like load balancing, service integration, and performance monitoring tools you use. Provide examples of how you’ve implemented these strategies in previous roles to boost system stability and performance during high traffic periods.

Be sure to mention languages you are most comfortable with, like Java or Python, and give examples of projects where those languages were essential to your contributions, focusing on both back-end functionality and any relevant integrations.

Share a specific scenario where you identified a performance bottleneck. Describe the optimization strategies you employed, the outcomes, and how your improvements impacted user experience or system efficiency. This shows your proactive approach to problem-solving.

Discuss methodologies for data processing you employed in past experiences, mentioning any frameworks or tools you've utilized. Emphasize the importance of data integrity and how your approaches ensured accurate data flow and quality.

Highlight the importance of teamwork in building effective backend solutions. Share experiences where collaboration led to successful projects, showing how effective communication and understanding between engineering and data science teams led to smoother implementations.

Talk about your experience in fast-paced environments and how you prioritize tasks to ensure timely project delivery. Mention specific techniques or tools you use for project management that help maintain focus and efficiency under deadlines.

Explain your systematic approach to identifying and resolving issues within backend systems. Discuss tools and methodologies you employ for effective troubleshooting, emphasizing how you gather data to understand the problem deeply and execute solutions.

Share your commitment to continuous learning—mention resources like online courses, webinars, or community groups you participate in. Discuss how you incorporate new knowledge into your work to enhance your team's contributions and maintain a competitive edge.

Articulate your enthusiasm for Jerry's mission and how it aligns with your personal and professional goals. Show how your skills and experiences make you a perfect fit for the team, and express your eagerness to contribute to the innovative solutions that Jerry provides.