Staff Backend Software Engineer
About Firework
Join Firework – Where Innovation Meets Impact
Firework is redefining the future of commerce as an AI and video commerce company — combining cutting-edge technology, an exclusive network of enterprise brands and retailers, and a first-mover position to win the agentic commerce race.
We've built the world's most advanced and largest video commerce platform, trusted by global brands and leading retailers. But we're more than software — our compounding network effect grows stronger with every partner we add, bringing the energy of in-store experiences online and transforming how businesses engage, convert, and build lasting customer relationships at scale.
Having raised over $235M to date, led by investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and operating at global scale, we offer unparalleled opportunities to solve complex challenges and drive meaningful impact in the future of connected commerce.
If you're curious, ambitious, and energized by big ideas — Firework is the place to grow, lead, and shape what comes next. Together.
Summary
Our Engineering team is growing! We’re seeking a skilled Staff Backend Engineer to join our global team, bring technical expertise and leadership along with hands-on development of backend software development.
What you’ll be doing
Partner closely with product managers, designers, and engineering teams to translate product vision into robust technical solutions
Design and build scalable APIs using the Elixir Phoenix framework that power our core products and services
Architect efficient data models and write optimized PostgresQL and Cassandra queries, creating high performance indexes to support large-scale data workloads
Working with in-memory data stores, such as Redis, to improve scalability and responsiveness
Lead complex debugging and incident resolution across the entire stack using logging and monitoring tools
Guide and mentor engineers through thoughtful code reviews, sharing expertise and helping elevate the team’s technical capabilities
Drive improvements to engineering standards, tooling, and processes
Ensure coherence of all aspects of projects as an integrated system and uphold overall technical quality
Contribute to technical strategy by identifying opportunities for new programs, products, or features by monitoring industry developments and trends
Help define and evolve development practices, including technology choices, architectural patterns, workflows and coding standards to support a high-performing engineering organization
We’ll be excited if you have
Bachelor’s degree in computer programming, computer science, or a related field; advanced degree is a plus
6+ years of experience with Elixir designing and building high-performance RESTful web services serving billions of requests per day
High-level experience with SQL infrastructure and data modeling
Comfortable with change: ability to demonstrate comfort with ambiguity, adapt quickly and be effective in new situations in a highly dynamic setting
Data-driven but also imaginative and intuitive in coming up with ideas and solutions
Must possess a start-up mindset: hunger to learn quickly and the ability to balance multiple priorities in a fast-paced team environment
A BIG PLUS if you have
Experience with GoLang or Python
Expertise with video streaming libraries such as FFmpeg or GStreamer
Experience working with video/audio codecs
Experience working with live streaming encoders and WebRTC
Experience working with AI/ML models and applications
Experience in building large-scale applications with Python
Experience writing GraphQL queries and mutations
Locations
The role is hybrid and we are looking for candidates in China and Hong Kong. Candidates outside the location are encouraged to apply though must be willing to relocate.
Don’t hold back
We understand some candidates may see the above and not apply because they don’t meet all the qualifications. We encourage you to apply anyway; we often find talented candidates that fit many other opportunities we have and look for potential too, not just what you did in the past. As an equal employment opportunity employer, we are a diverse team that strives for an inclusive environment for all. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.