Backend Engineer

VODA.ai is seeking a full-time Backend Engineer (TypeScript/Node.js). As part of the team, you will own the architectural and data foundations of the backend, which serves multiple frontends and runs on a dual-database stack (PostgreSQL for relational and spatial data, MongoDB for documents and event streams). Day-to-day tasks may include evolving the layered backend architecture (controller, service, data-access, repository), designing schemas across PostgreSQL and MongoDB, owning the API surface (REST endpoints, real-time streams, RPC contracts), tuning query and pipeline performance, extending the serverless layer (AWS Lambda), and raising the engineering bar through code reviews and clear written design notes. Qualifications 5+ years building production backend services, with demonstrable architecture experience: layered designs, separation of concerns, and refactoring large codebases safely. Deep, hands-on database experience across both relational and document stores in production. SQL fluency (especially PostgreSQL), schema design, indexing, query optimization, and migrations. Strong TypeScript and Node.js (Express or similar). API contract design: REST fundamentals (validation, error handling, pagination, idempotency), evolution and versioning, and ideally one of gRPC / protobuf, GraphQL, or other typed RPC. Comfortable owning asynchronous work outside the request path (background jobs, cron, queues, retry/backoff, idempotent handlers) and production observability (structured logs, metrics, distributed tracing, proactive instrumentation). Strong testing discipline (including integration tests against real databases) and clear written communication. This is right for you if you: Genuinely enjoy backend systems and database design: keeping a layered codebase clean at scale, modeling and indexing data for performance, and drawing the right line between relational and document storage. Have PostGIS or other spatial SQL experience, a strong plus given the geospatial nature of the data. Have MongoDB depth (replica sets, change streams, transactions) and experience with real-time, event-driven patterns (WebSockets, queues). Have AWS experience (Lambda, infrastructure-as-code, RDS, Cognito, S3, DynamoDB) and ideally gRPC / protobuf. Have familiarity with Python and/or Go: a meaningful share of the serverless surface is written in both. Have experience operating systems at scale: observability, performance budgets, and on-call. Who we are VODA.ai uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help water utilities predict which of their pipes and meters are going to fail or have lead. There are 240,000 pipe breaks each year and millions of people without fresh water, so we are doing something about it. Our software uses our proprietary, built-in-house AI and is used by water utilities and municipalities to help them create better engineering and operations decisions. We’re built by water people for water people. VODA.ai was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston, MA. We have a multi-award-winning solution and customers worldwide. Read more about us at voda.ai/about.