Software Engineer II, Backend - Ads

As a Software Engineer II, Backend on the Ads team at MyFitnessPal, your responsibilities will include developing and maintaining APIs that enhance user experiences, solving complex technical challenges, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and participating in production issue resolution. This role also requires breaking down problems and implementing small, deliverable solutions that contribute to larger projects.

To qualify for the Software Engineer II, Backend role at MyFitnessPal, candidates should have 2-4 years of relevant experience, a strong understanding of API design patterns (such as REST and GraphQL), and experience with high request volume APIs. Familiarity with various data stores and cloud platforms, alongside performance profiling and tuning, are also essential qualifications for success in this role.

In the Software Engineer II, Backend position at MyFitnessPal, Kotlin is the primary programming language utilized. However, experience with other languages such as Scala, Ruby, Java, Go, Node, and Python is beneficial as you will work with a diverse stack throughout the engineering teams.

At MyFitnessPal, a Software Engineer II, Backend can expect a collaborative and inclusive team culture that values mentorship and mutual support. You will work closely with your teammates, engaging in pair programming and problem-solving sessions to foster innovation. Emphasizing kindness, data inspiration, and community engagement, the team creates an uplifting environment for both personal and professional growth.

MyFitnessPal encourages career growth for Software Engineers II, Backend through various initiatives such as a mentorship program, access to training opportunities, and a virtual learning library. Employees are empowered to scale their skills, take on new challenges, and shape their career paths within the company while receiving ongoing support for professional development.

When answering this question, focus on specific projects where you built or maintained APIs that handled a significant number of requests. Provide details about the technologies you used, the challenges you faced, and how you optimized the performance and reliability of those APIs to meet user demands.

Discuss your methodical approach, starting from identifying the symptoms and logs. Explain how you prioritize issues based on impact and severity, collaborate with team members for insights, and utilize debugging tools to trace and resolve the underlying problems effectively.

In your response, highlight your familiarity with API design patterns such as REST and GraphQL. Discuss specific projects where you implemented these patterns, the reasons behind your design choices, and how they benefited system architecture and usability.

Provide an example that illustrates your teamwork skills. Discuss how you communicated effectively with non-technical stakeholders, addressed their concerns, and aligned project objectives across different teams to achieve successful outcomes.

Explain your approach to profiling applications using tools, metric systems, and logging. Include details on specific performance issues you've encountered, the strategies employed to enhance performance, and the resulting improvements that were achieved.

Share your hands-on experience with AWS services relevant to your role, such as deploying applications, implementing load balancing, or utilizing specific AWS databases. Discuss how these experiences have shaped your understanding of cloud architectures and their scalability.

Outline your approach to designing APIs with future scalability in mind. Discuss the importance of documentation, adherence to coding standards, and implementing error handling to ensure usability and maintainability.

Provide an in-depth description of the problem you faced. Discuss the steps taken to analyze the problem, the collaborative effort involved, the solution you devised, and how you gauged the success post-implementation.

Discuss your familiarity with TDD or BDD practices, providing examples of how you've implemented these methodologies in past projects to enhance code quality and ensure functionality aligns with requirements.

Share your perspective on pair programming, emphasizing its advantages such as knowledge sharing, enhanced problem-solving, and improved code quality. Discuss any personal experiences where pair programming led to more effective collaboration and innovation.