Senior Backend Engineer, Grafana Search & Storage (Remote, EMEA)

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Grafana Labs, your responsibilities will include influencing the product roadmap, driving projects from initial ideation to operational status, ensuring systems performance and reliability, and mentoring team members. You’ll also actively engage in design discussions and iterate on product features based on customer feedback.

For the Senior Backend Engineer position at Grafana Labs, candidates should have solid experience with the Go programming language and familiarity with Kubernetes API Patterns like operators. Experience in delivering software projects, systems engineering, and writing maintainable code is essential. Prior engagement with cloud-based systems is highly valued.

Candidates who demonstrate a passion for creating user-focused products, have strong collaboration and communication skills, and possess a pragmatic approach to problem-solving will stand out for the Senior Backend Engineer position at Grafana Labs. Familiarity with microservices architecture and prior use of Grafana and Prometheus can be a huge plus.

In the UK, the base compensation range for the Senior Backend Engineer role at Grafana Labs is between GBP 84,000 and GBP 101,000. Actual compensation may vary based on individual experience and skillset, which will be discussed during the interview process.

Grafana Labs provides a supportive onboarding process for their Senior Backend Engineers, helping new hires acclimate to the remote working environment. You'll have regular meetings with your team through video calls, receive coaching on Grafana tools, and have the chance to explore ongoing projects and initiatives.

As a Senior Backend Engineer, effective problem-solving typically involves breaking down complex challenges into smaller, manageable components, conducting thorough research, and iterating on solutions through rapid feedback loops. Providing examples of prior experiences helps demonstrate this approach.

When discussing your experience with Go, emphasize specific projects you've completed using the language, your familiarity with its concurrency models, and how you've utilized Go to deliver clean, robust code in collaborative environments. Mention any libraries or tools you find particularly useful.

In a remote working setup, effective communication, regular check-ins, and leveraging collaborative tools are crucial. Highlight how you ensure transparency with your teammates and stay aligned on project goals while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Detail a specific project you've led, outlining your role at each stage, the roadblocks faced, and how you overcame them. Emphasizing your leadership and clear communication through the project lifecycle will show your capability in this area.

Show your comfort with Kubernetes by discussing projects that involved deploying and managing services within a Kubernetes environment. Mention your hands-on experience with operational tools and how you utilized API patterns to create scalable applications.

When prioritizing projects, I like to analyze customer feedback quantitatively and qualitatively to identify the most impactful areas for improvement. Discussing how you’d balance customer needs with team capacity will showcase your expertise.

Talk about your direct experience designing and implementing microservices, the challenges you encountered, and how you approached service-to-service communication. Providing specific examples will demonstrate your understanding and adaptiveness.

I maintain software quality by implementing best practices like thorough code reviews, writing unit tests, and Employing continuous integration pipelines. Discussing how you monitor projects post-delivery is also beneficial.

Highlight any relevant open-source projects you’ve contributed to or have been a part of, and how this experience has enriched your knowledge and skills in backend engineering, particularly in the context of tools like Grafana.

Mentoring involves a combination of providing clear guidance and encouraging independent thinking. Discuss concrete examples where you've helped others develop specific skills or navigate projects.