Lead Back-end Engineer (Node.js)

We’re building a SaaS B2B platform where backend reliability, correctness, and latency directly shape customer trust and product adoption. We’re hiring a Lead Back-end Engineer to raise the bar across our Node.js services, coach the team, and help us scale through the next growth phase—improving API response times, developer velocity, and operational maturity. 

This is a hands-on leadership role: you will still code, review, and ship, but your bigger impact is making everyone around you more effective through mentorship, architecture guidance, and engineering standards. 

Location: Zagreb (hybrid) or Remote (EU time zones) 

 

Technical leadership & coaching 

• Coach and up-level backend engineers through pairing, code reviews, design reviews, and practical mentorship (API design, testing strategy, performance, operational best practices). 

• Establish and evolve backend engineering standards: TypeScript practices, architecture patterns, code quality, documentation, and production readiness. 

• Lead technical discussions and produce clear written artifacts (design docs, ADRs, technical proposals) to make trade-offs visible and decisions durable. 

• Identify skill gaps and run lightweight internal training sessions (workshops, examples, “how we do it” playbooks). 

Build scalable Node.js services 

• Design, implement, and evolve highly scalable backend services using Node.js + TypeScript. 

• Define service boundaries and data flows across microservices, queues, and event-driven workflows to support reliable scale. 

• Improve “build → ship → operate” loops: CI/CD quality gates, safe rollouts, runtime resilience, and incident response habits. 

• Own technical debt management: prioritize refactors that improve stability, developer experience, and delivery speed. 

REST + GraphQL excellence (Hasura) 

• Build and maintain robust REST APIs (versioning, backwards compatibility, pagination, documentation, authn/authz, rate limiting). 

• Design and operate GraphQL APIs with strong schema discipline and performance safeguards (N+1 prevention, batching, caching patterns). 

• Use Hasura effectively in production: permissions/roles, relationships, actions, event triggers, remote schemas—knowing when to lean on Hasura vs. custom Node services. 

• Partner with product and frontend teams to ensure API contracts are clear, stable, and optimized for client usage. 

Performance, caching, and reliability 

• Drive API performance outcomes (p95/p99 latency) using caching, query optimization, and appropriate precomputation strategies. 

• Implement and improve observability: metrics, traces, structured logs, dashboards, alerting, and SLO-driven improvements. 

• Lead production incident response and follow-through: root cause analysis, postmortems, and systematic fixes that reduce recurrence. 

 

Qualifications 

• 7+ years of backend engineering experience with deep Node.js expertise (TypeScript strongly preferred). 

• Strong experience designing and operating RESTful APIs at scale (auth, versioning, compatibility, rate limits, error handling). 

• Production experience with GraphQL (schema design, performance patterns, tooling). 

• Hands-on experience with Hasura (permissions, actions, remote schemas, event triggers, operating Hasura in real environments). 

• Proven ability to mentor and coach engineers—raising standards through reviews, pairing, and guiding architecture decisions. 

• Strong system design fundamentals: distributed systems trade-offs, consistency models, caching, idempotency, failure modes. 
  

Strongly preferred 

• Background in SaaS B2B (multi-tenant concerns, enterprise security expectations, auditability, SLAs). 

• Experience running cloud-native services (containers/Kubernetes, CI/CD, observability stacks). 

• Experience building high availability, high throughput services under real-world scale constraints. 

 

Stack (Typical) 

• Node.js + TypeScript services (modern frameworks such as NestJS/Express/Fastify) 

• Hasura GraphQL Engine (permissions, event triggers, actions, remote schemas) 

• PostgreSQL + Redis (or equivalents), background jobs/queues, event-driven architecture 

• Observability tooling (metrics, traces, logs), SLOs and alerting 

What We Offer

• Growth: Mentorship, learning budget, and time for experimentation and R&D.
• Compensation: Competitive salary and equity.
• Tools & Perks: Azure powered stack, top tier equipment (Apple or Microsoft), paid lunches, MultiSport card.
• Culture: Fast‑moving, collaborative, and supportive - with a bias for action.