Backend Engineer

ID99040

Agile

• Engine is an Inc. 5000 company that creates award-winning software for Fortune 500 brands and trailblazing startups across 17+ industries. We rank among the leaders in areas like application development and AI/ML, and our people-first culture has earned us multiple Best Place to Work awards.

Why join us

If you're looking for a place to grow, make an impact, and work with people who care, we'd love to meet you!

About the role

We are looking for a Backend Engineer to build and scale the backend of Maxroll.gg, a high-traffic gaming companion platform with over 25 million monthly visits, as part of IGN.

The mandatory requirements include 3+ years of backend development with TypeScript on Node.js, strong SQL and caching skills, experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, production-scale applications, daily hands-on use of AI coding tools, and an upper-intermediate English level.

What you will do

• Build and maintain REST and GraphQL APIs in TypeScript (Fastify, Hono) for user profiles, subscriptions and game data, including authentication, rate limits and typed contracts;
• Design schemas and write queries for PostgreSQL and MySQL (Prisma, Drizzle), including versioned game data, player builds and migrations on tables in live use;
• Run ClickHouse analytics pipelines: request logs, materialized views, article and revenue metrics, and the queries behind dashboards;
• Own the cache layers end to end: Redis-compatible stores, query caching, tag-invalidated cache, HTTP headers and CDN purges;
• Build and run scheduled jobs and queue consumers (NATS) for game data sync, leaderboards, Meilisearch indexing, sitemaps, Stripe webhooks, payouts and data-deletion requests;
• Integrate third-party APIs (Stripe, Discord, Blizzard, IGDB, Steam, YouTube), handling retries, backoff and rate limits;
• Process game images into map tiles, sprite sheets and responsive image sizes;
• Keep responses lean for Remix and Next.js pages to improve time to first byte, PageSpeed and SEO;
• Work with AI coding agents every day: direct them, review their output, and maintain the guardrails that make their changes safe to merge (tests, lint rules, build checks, agent instructions);
• Deploy through Docker, GitHub Actions and Kubernetes;
• Support high-traffic game launches, including outside regular hours when needed;

Must haves

• 3+ years of backend development with TypeScript on Node.js;
• Strong command of TypeScript’s type system (generics, inference, discriminated unions, narrowing);
• Schema validation experience with Zod or similar;
• Strong SQL skills in PostgreSQL and/or MySQL: schema design, indexing, query plans, migrations on live data, transactions and locking;
• Experience running an analytical database at production volume (ClickHouse preferred; Big
• Query, Druid or similar also count);
• Experience designing caching: Redis or a compatible store, invalidation strategies, HTTP cache headers, CDN behavior;
• Experience designing and consuming REST and GraphQL APIs, including authentication and rate limiting;
• Experience with background jobs and message queues, including handling jobs that run twice or don’t run at all;
• Experience with high-volume, user-facing production applications;
• Experience taking a product from idea to production;
• Proficiency with agentic AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor or similar): daily, hands-on use in a real codebase, and good judgment about when their output needs checking;
• Comfortable reading and changing React code when a feature reaches the frontend;
• Able to work well in a startup-style, fast-paced environment with changing priorities;
• Flexible about working hours: some game launches happen in the evening or on weekends and need coverage outside the standard 9-to-5;
• Passion for gaming;
• Upper-intermediate English level;

Nice to haves

• Experience with Bun;
• Experience with any of the current stack: Remix, Next.js, Fastify, Hono, Prisma, Drizzle, Apollo GraphQL, Meilisearch, NATS, Ory, Stripe, Nx;
• shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS;
• Strict lint setups (typescript-eslint strict
• Type
• Checked, custom lint rules, architecture boundaries);
• Docker, Kubernetes, GitOps (ArgoCD), GitHub Actions, External Secrets;
• Payments and subscriptions (Stripe checkout, webhooks, promotion codes);
• Writing agent instructions, skills or custom tooling for AI coding agents;
• Experience building game tools, such as databases, interactive maps, calculators or planners;

Perks and benefits

• Professional growth: Accelerate your professional journey with mentorship, TechTalks, and personalized growth roadmaps;
• Competitive compensation: We match your skills and contributions with USD-based compensation and budgets for education, fitness, and team activities;
• A selection of exciting projects: Work with Fortune 500 enterprises and leading product brands using modern solutions;
• Flextime: Flexible schedule with remote and office options for work-life balance;

Meet Our Recruitment Process

Asynchronous stage – An automated, self-paced track that helps us move faster and give you quicker feedback:

• Short online form to confirm basic requirements
• 30–60 minute skills assessment
• 5-minute introduction video

Synchronous stage – Live interviews

• Technical interview with our engineering team (scheduled at your convenience)
• Final interview with your future teammates

If it’s a match—you’ll get an offer!