We are seeking a Sr. Backend Software Engineer - News & Insights (T3) to join our technology team. The News & Insights team shapes the platform behind Realtor.com's content platform (realtor.com/news), a decoupled, headless system that serves millions of readers and distributes content to top-tier partners like MSN, Yahoo, and The Wall Street Journal. In this role, you will serve as our primary backend and operational SME, working alongside our dedicated frontend engineer and WordPress content partners. You will own our backend services, manage cloud infrastructure, and build the data integrations that power new high-scale initiatives-including our upcoming AI-powered hyperlocal content platform. Working in a small, high-impact team, you will bridge the gap between backend engineering, cloud deployment, and system observability. What you'll do: Backend Systems & AI Application Ownership • Core Backend & Node.js Services: Own, design, and scale performant Node.js microservices, GraphQL schemas/persisted query workflows, and API surfaces connecting frontend applications and CMS databases. • Hyperlocal Content Platform: Serve as the primary backend owner as we integrate and scale an AI-generated local content engine-expanding publishing capabilities across thousands of localized market destinations. • Caching & Performance: Manage multi-layered caching architectures (CDN/edge caching, object caching, ISR) to maintain high system throughput, low latency, and rapid data freshness. DevOps, AWS Infrastructure & Operations • CI/CD & Deployments: Take operational ownership of our automated deployment pipelines (e.g., CircleCI), ensuring safe, fast, and repeatable production releases. • AWS & Infrastructure Management: Maintain and optimize cloud infrastructure (AWS) supporting our News & Insights application stack. • Observability & Health: Drive platform stability by implementing logging, monitoring, and alerting frameworks to diagnose system bottlenecks and prevent downtime. Engineering Quality & Leadership • AI-Native Workflows: Integrate modern AI coding tools into daily development processes to boost engineering velocity while evaluating generated code for security and performance. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product managers, newsroom stakeholders, and frontend engineers to define backend roadmaps, lead technical design sessions, and participate in Agile ceremonies. • Architectural Mentorship: Lead backend execution at the Senior (T3) level while collaborating with Principal Engineers on higher-level architecture and scaling decisions. What you'll bring: Experience & Expertise • 5+ years of software engineering experience with a strong backend foundation and proven production ownership. • Backend Stack: Deep experience with modern JavaScript/TypeScript on the server side (Node.js heavily preferred). • Infrastructure & Operations Exposure: Hands-on experience managing CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments, cloud hosting (AWS), and monitoring/logging platforms. Technical Skills • APIs & Data Layers: Experience with GraphQL (schema design, query optimization, persisted queries) and RESTful API architectures. • Caching & Delivery: Understanding of edge caching, CDN behavior, and cache invalidation strategies for high-traffic platforms. • AI & Content Systems (Nice-to-Have): Familiarity with AI applications/agents, content management systems (CMS), or scaling localized data pipelines. • Testing & Quality: Proficiency with automated test suites (unit, integration, end-to-end) to safeguard production reliability. Professional Qualities • Broad Ownership Mindset: Comfortable moving flexibly between backend code and infrastructure rather than staying strictly in a narrow engineering lane. • Pragmatic Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate technical trade-offs and communicate backend architecture clearly to non-technical stakeholders. • Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience. Note: Direct WordPress expertise is not required, as day-to-day WordPress development is handled by dedicated team specialists. We are looking for a strong backend engineer who can comfortably own server-side systems and continuous delivery.