Why this role exists

We’re scaling fast. Our backend systems power real-time multiplayer games and virtual worlds used by millions — and we need senior engineers who can build at scale, ship with confidence, and elevate our backend team’s velocity.

You’ll join as a Senior Backend Engineer, owning complex systems, contributing to architectural decisions, and writing code that other engineers want to build on. You’ll partner with a Lead Backend Engineer, but operate with high autonomy — driving projects from idea to deployment.

What you’ll do

Own major backend features and systems, end-to-end
Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code in Python (async) and/or Go
Propose pragmatic architectural improvements and design patterns
Optimize for scale, reliability, observability, and cost
Collaborate with frontend, product, and platform teams to ship features fast
Raise the bar through code reviews, mentoring, and technical excellence
Take full ownership of your work — no hand-holding, no babysitting

Our Stack

Languages: Async typed Python, Go
Infra: Kubernetes (kOps), AWS, Helm, Terraform
Data: MongoDB, Redis, ElasticSearch, OpenSearch
Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Kibana
Protocols: REST, WebSocket Secure (WSS), FlatBuffers
Architecture: Microservices, event-based systems

You might be a fit if you...

Have 4–7 years of backend experience, ideally in production systems at scale
Know how to ship working software — not just write elegant code
Think in systems, not endpoints: caching, scaling, observability, failure modes
Don’t need hand-holding — you figure it out and move fast
Give great code reviews and lift others with clarity and empathy
Get energy from solving hard problems with great people

This role is not for you if...

You wait for tickets instead of asking why
You need a manager to keep you on track
You don’t care about how your work affects users or the team
You’re more interested in being clever than being effective

How we work at Pocket Worlds

We are a team of builders. We move fast, challenge each other directly, and take ownership over everything we touch. We care deeply about impact and we work hard because we love the mission: connecting people through shared experiences.

We don’t do bloated process. We don’t do hierarchy. We hire smart, hungry people and give them room to execute. If that excites you, you’ll do the best work of your life here.