Senior Backend Engineer

Skyfire is a payment platform designed for the emerging machine economy, where AI and machines need to transact seamlessly and autonomously. It addresses the limitations of current financial systems by enabling instant, global, and micropayments specifically tailored for AI and machine interactions. By leveraging stablecoins and blockchain technology, Skyfire offers a scalable and efficient solution for AI to pay for APIs, data, and services, as well as for enterprises to automate micropayments. With a strong team experienced in payments and a strategic go-to-market plan, Skyfire aims to become the financial backbone of the rapidly growing machine economy.

What You’ll Do

• Design and develop core components of the Skyfire payment platform, including smart contract interactions, payment processing logic, and API integrations.
• Implement scalable and secure blockchain solutions for on-chain machine payments, ensuring high throughput and low latency.
• Collaborate with the product team to translate business requirements into technical solutions, contributing to the overall architecture and design of the platform.
• Stay abreast of emerging technologies and trends in blockchain, smart contracts, and AI, incorporating them into the platform as appropriate.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation.

What We’re Looking For

• A self-starter with a “Can Do” attitude
• Excellent communication skills: Essential for explaining and brainstorming complex technical solutions for large volumes of requests.
• Strong proficiency in Typescript: Essential for building scalable and maintainable web applications within the Skyfire platform.
• Expertise in backend development: Experience with Node.js or similar frameworks to create robust server-side logic and APIs.
• Database knowledge: Familiarity with RDBMS (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) for efficient data storage and retrieval.
• Strong system design skills: The platform needs to scale from 10s to potentially 1000s of RPS.
• Build and deployment: Experience with CI/CD, K8S, Docker, etc. to build robust build and deployment pipelines.
• Cloud infrastructure: Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) for deploying and managing scalable applications including networking like load balancers and firewalls.
• Testing and debugging: Proficiency in writing unit tests, integration tests, and debugging complex issues to ensure the reliability and stability of the software.

Bonus Points

• API development and integration: Ability to design, implement, and consume RESTful or GraphQL APIs for seamless communication between different components of the platform.
• OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect: Knowledge of SSO, RBAC and protocols to federate identity and permissions.
• Firm understanding of time complexity: What we are building will live and die by how quickly it can fulfill requests.
• Key-Value Stores and other No-SQL technologies: Ability to match the right solution to a problem and find a balance between system performance and maintainability.
• Security best practices: Knowledge of authentication, authorization, encryption, and other security measures to protect sensitive user data and transactions.
• Web3 and blockchain experience (nice to have): Understanding of blockchain concepts, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (dApps) would be advantageous for contributing to Skyfire’s core payment infrastructure.

What We Offer

• Competitive cash and equity compensation package
• Healthcare insurance for employees and their families
• Opportunity for career growth in a fast-paced startup environment
• A collaborative and high-impact team culture
• The chance to shape the future of an innovative company