Senior Back End Software Developer (Platform)

Opportunity Snapshot

Pixieset is hiring a Senior Software Developer, Back End to help shape the foundation of our growing platform, supporting over 1.5 million photographers and creative professionals worldwide. As a member of the platform team, you'll work across the stack with a focus on backend systems - designing and building the core services, APIs, and infrastructure that power our expanding product suite. This role offers the opportunity to work on technically challenging projects that are central to Pixieset’s long-term growth. You’ll collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Engineering peers to ship high-impact features, improve scalability, and enhance the developer experience across teams. If you are self-motivated, collaborative, and passionate about technology, we’d love for you to join our team.

Your Impact

• Design, build, and evolve scalable backend systems that power Pixieset’s platform and product ecosystem
• Lead the development of high-quality PHP (Laravel) services and APIs that support reliability, performance, and long-term maintainability
• Contribute to architectural decisions that improve system scalability, resilience, and developer velocity across multiple codebases
• Own backend initiatives end-to-end, from technical design through production release and operational support
• Improve and maintain Pixieset’s platform foundations, including APIs, data models, caching layers, and infrastructure
• Participate in operating production systems, including on-call rotations, incident response, root cause analysis, and driving reliability improvements
• Mentor engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and establishing backend best practices
• Partner cross-functionally to translate product and business requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Identify and drive platform-level improvements that enhance performance, security, and system reliability

Role Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building and maintaining production-grade backend systems
• Ability to ramp up quickly with PHP and modern frameworks (Laravel and Symfony), with experience building and maintaining RESTful APIs
• Proven experience designing relational database schemas (MySQL, PostgreSQL), optimizing queries, and implementing caching strategies (Redis)
• Demonstrated experience contributing to or leading system design and architectural discussions for scalable, distributed systems
• Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts, API integrations, and backend performance optimization
• Experience deploying and operating backend systems in cloud environments (AWS), including monitoring and reliability best practices
• Experience owning and operating production systems, including incident response and post-incident improvements
• Track record of delivering backend projects end-to-end with strong technical judgment and risk management
• Experience mentoring engineers and contributing to a high-performing engineering culture
• Strong communication skills and the ability to align technical decisions with product and business priorities

What We Offer

• Hybrid work environment (2 in-office days per week)
• 4 weeks of annual vacation & paid time off for office holiday closure
• RRSP matching
• $2,000 annual health & lifestyle spending account
• $1,000 annual education budget
• $1,000 annual charitable donation matching
• Comprehensive benefits: extended health, critical illness, long-term disability & life insurance
• Company-issued MacBook & home office budget
• Anniversary rewards & complimentary Pixieset premium account
• Team-building activities & company-wide events
• A workplace recognized for excellence — We’re proudly certified as a Great Place to Work™, ranked #2 among Canada’s Top Employers, and named one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers

The typical salary range for this position is: CAD $119,700 - $161,700 annually. Salary offered will be based on skills, experience and market data.

Working at Pixieset

Pixieset is the #1 go-to platform for photographers to deliver photos, sell prints, book clients, get paid, and more, all in one place. We help millions of photographers and creatives around the world do more of what they love.

At Pixieset, you’ll find a culture built on collaboration, curiosity, and craftsmanship. We care deeply about clean design, thoughtful code, and meaningful work that creates real impact for our users. We value continuous learning, connection, and the power of technology to simplify complex challenges. Our team is diverse in background and perspective but united by a shared mission: building products that empower creatives to grow with purpose.

We’re proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work™, ranked #2 among Canada’s Top Employers, and named one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers - a reflection of the supportive, growth-minded environment we’ve built together.

Pixieset is growing quickly but thoughtfully, combining the stability to think long term with the agility to move fast. Whether you’re building new features, improving infrastructure, or shaping the customer experience, your work has both impact and purpose. Every feature we create helps creatives spend less time managing and more time creating.

For more information on Pixieset, please visit our careers page and follow us Facebook, LinkedIn, X and Instagram!

Internal Title: Senior Software Developer, Back End