This role is based in
San Francisco and open to those who are able to be in-office 2 days per week on a hybrid work model.
About the TeamThe Backend Platform team builds the foundational systems and infrastructure that power Patreon's creator platform. We're responsible for the core backend services, APIs, databases, infrastructure, and developer tooling that enable product teams across the company to ship quickly, reliably, and at scale. This team is growing and investing in foundational platform capabilities that will support Patreon's next phase of scale and product expansion.
About the Role- Define and drive the technical strategy for Patreon's backend platform and foundational infrastructure
- Lead architecture and implementation of scalable distributed systems, APIs, event-driven systems, and platform services
- Lead modernization efforts across backend architecture, service boundaries, data access patterns, and infrastructure
- Establish technical standards and best practices around reliability, performance, scalability, and maintainability
- Partner with product engineering teams to ensure platform capabilities align with business and product needs
- Shape cross-functional technical decision-making at organizational scale
- Help evolve operational maturity around incident management, resiliency, and production excellence
- Mentor Staff and Senior engineers across the organization through design reviews, technical leadership, and hands-on collaboration
What you'll need- Extensive experience building large-scale backend systems, with depth in distributed systems and platform architecture (typically 10+ years, or equivalent demonstrated expertise)
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, high-throughput APIs, and low-latency architectures that support millions of DAUs
- Experience with databases, caching systems, and storage technologies (e.g. MySQL, Postgres, Redis, DynamoDB)
- Strong understanding of data modeling, storage systems, caching, queues, and event-driven architectures
- Experience in performance optimization across APIs, databases, caching layers, and distributed services
- Strong operational excellence mindset, including incident response and production debugging
- Experience operating systems in cloud-native environments such as AWS and Kubernetes-based infrastructure
- Proficiency in one or more backend languages such as Python, Go, Java, or Rust
- Ability to communicate complex architectural trade-offs clearly in writing and in cross-functional forums
- Experience mentoring Staff and Senior engineers and contributing to engineering culture through design reviews, documentation, or team standards
Patreon offers a competitive benefits package including and not limited to salary, equity plans, healthcare, flexible time off, company holidays and recharge days, commuter benefits, lifestyle stipends, learning and development stipends, patronage, parental leave, and 401k plan with matching.
Patreon operates under a hybrid work model, where employees based in office locations are expected to come into the office two days per week, excluding sick time and paid leave. The goal of this policy is to be intentional about the in-person time we spend together to strengthen the feeling of community at Patreon. Candidates hired into remote-eligible roles are not expected to meet the same requirements.
At Patreon, we believe in fair and transparent pay. In compliance with New York and California pay transparency laws, we are sharing the expected salary range for this role.
The posted salary range is dependent on the location and the level. This range may encompass multiple levels within the role's job family. The final offer will be based on candidate's experience, skills, competencies, and geographic location, aligning with the appropriate job level within Patreon's leveling framework. For remote employees located outside CA and NY, salary may vary based on location and local market conditions.
Patreon reserves the right to modify or update compensation and benefits at any time.
