Senior Backend Engineer - Product

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Mercury, your core responsibilities include designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable backend systems while ensuring product ownership and collaboration with cross-functional teams. You'll work on exciting projects, leveraging your backend development experience and SQL proficiency, while playing a critical role in shaping the product for startups.

To excel as a Senior Backend Engineer at Mercury, you should ideally have 3-7 years of backend development experience, a strong proficiency in SQL, and a willingness to learn Haskell. Previous experience making architectural decisions will also be valuable, along with the ability to empathize with users and communicate effectively with your peers.

Mercury offers a unique work environment that feels like a 'startup within a startup' for Senior Backend Engineers. You will find autonomy in projects, collaboration with dedicated teams, and an emphasis on creating lovable products that cater to startup needs. The culture encourages responsibility and innovation, fostering a sense of product ownership.

At Mercury, Senior Backend Engineers have numerous opportunities for career growth due to our commitment to developing talent and encouraging autonomy. You’ll be involved in high-impact projects, decision-making, and product design, all of which can pave the way for future leadership roles or specialized positions within our expanding company.

Senior Backend Engineers at Mercury can expect a competitive compensation package, including a base salary ranging from $166,600 to $208,300 for US employees. Beyond salary, equity options and a range of benefits further enhance the total rewards package, which is regularly updated using industry compensation data.

When answering this question, detail your specific backend development experiences, including the technologies you've used, the projects you've worked on, and the impact of your contributions. Highlighting your ability to handle challenges and adapt to new technologies will show that you're ready for the Senior Backend Engineer role.

Be sure to mention programming languages you're skilled in, particularly SQL, and express a willingness to learn Haskell. Explain any projects where you've applied these languages and how they can be beneficial to the technology stack at Mercury.

Illustrate your thought process when it comes to architectural decisions, talking about how you evaluate trade-offs and the long-term implications of your choices. Providing examples from your past projects can give the interviewer confidence in your decision-making skills.

Use this question to highlight your teamwork skills. Describe a specific project where you collaborated with designers or product managers. Emphasize your communication and collaboration strategies that led to a successful outcome, showcasing your ability to work harmoniously in a team setting.

Discuss methods you employ to understand user needs, such as user testing, feedback loops, or analytics. Illustrate how you've used these insights to shape product features that directly addressed user pain points, aligning with the user-centric approach at Mercury.

Share specific techniques you use to manage stress and prioritize tasks during high-pressure situations. Your answer should demonstrate your ability to maintain quality while meeting deadlines, which is essential in a dynamic environment like Mercury.

Describe your testing methodology, whether it's unit testing, integration testing, or using specific testing frameworks. Highlight how this aligns with best practices and contributes to building reliable systems as a Senior Backend Engineer.

Convey your passion for supporting startups and your interest in fintech innovation. Discuss how you see technology reshaping the banking experience and how you want to be part of that transformation as a Senior Backend Engineer at Mercury.

Talk about resources you rely on, such as online courses, tech blogs, webinars, or community forums. Illustrate your commitment to staying current with technology, showing that you're invested in your professional development.

Explain how you see the Senior Backend Engineer role as integral to the product development cycle, contributing not just technical expertise but also strategic input. Stress the importance of collaboration and being an advocate for quality technical solutions within the team at Mercury.