Staff Cloud Backend Engineer

At Sonatus, we’re driving the transformation to AI-enabled software-defined vehicles. Traditional automotive software methods can’t keep pace with consumer expectations shaped by the mobile industry—where features evolve rapidly, update seamlessly, and improve continuously. That’s why leading OEMs trust Sonatus to accelerate this shift. Our technology is already in production across more than 9 million vehicles on the road today and rapidly expanding.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with 250+ employees worldwide, Sonatus combines the agility of a fast-growing company with the scale and impact of an established partner. Backed by strong funding and proven by global deployment, we’re solving some of the most interesting and complex challenges in the industry. Join us and help redefine what’s possible as we shape the future of mobility.

We are seeking two experienced Staff Cloud Backend Engineers to join our cloud engineering team. As a Staff Engineer, you will be a key technical leader responsible for designing, building, and optimizing backend services that power our cloud-based applications for automotive cloud platforms. This role requires deep expertise in cloud-native architectures, scalable backend systems, and modern development practices. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative and reliable solutions that drive our business objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Backend Architecture and Development

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of scalable backend services and APIs for cloud-based applications.
• Architect and implement microservices and serverless solutions using programming languages like Go.
• Ensure backend services are highly performant, scalable, and resilient, with a focus on meeting SLAs and minimizing downtime.

Performance Optimization and Scalability

• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in backend services, optimizing for speed, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
• Implement strategies for database optimization, including schema design, indexing, and query tuning for SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Scale backend systems to handle increasing loads, ensuring consistent performance under heavy traffic and data processing demands.

Security

• Lead the implementation of security best practices, including encryption, authentication, and secure API development.

Technical Leadership and Mentorship

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior engineers, promoting best practices in cloud backend development and architecture.
• Lead code reviews, design sessions, and architectural discussions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence.
• Stay updated on the latest advancements in cloud computing, backend development, and related technologies, and apply them to drive innovation.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement

• Work closely with front-end developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable backend solutions.
• Communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, ensuring alignment on project goals and timelines.
• Collaborate across teams to ensure seamless integration of backend services with front-end applications and other systems.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in backend development.
• Extensive experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, including cloud-native services.
• Proficiency in backend programming languages (e.g., Go, Java, Scala, Rust) and microservices architecture.
• Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure, containerization (e.g., Docker), and orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes).
• Expertise in designing and implementing RESTful and GraphQL APIs, as well as serverless architectures.
• Deep knowledge of database systems, including both SQL and NoSQL databases, with experience in database optimization.
• Experience working with distributed systems like Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc
• Strong leadership abilities, with a track record of mentoring and guiding engineering teams.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with a keen attention to detail and a focus on delivering high-quality solutions.
• Effective communication skills, capable of articulating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Sonatus is a tight-knit team aligned around a unified vision. We put progress ahead of politics and are not afraid of asking tough questions. Sometimes we get too busy to say it, but you can be confident that you and your contributions will matter every day. We embrace diversity in all regards because respect is ingrained in our every fiber.