Backend developer Jobs in Pasadena, CA

About Northwood Space :

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between earth and space and bring the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. If you are energized by building at a high-velocity company and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.

Job Level :

The level of this position will be determined based on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate. We are open to considering candidates of varying experience levels, from mid-career to principal developers.

Role :

Northwood Space is looking for a backend focused Staff Engineer to join our Platform team. In this role, you will lead the development of our cloud-based platform that manages global antenna scheduling, customer booking, and service provisioning. You will design and implement scalable systems for resource allocation, billing, and customer-facing APIs that enable seamless access to our space communication network. Your expertise in cloud architecture and distributed systems will be essential in creating reliable, performant services that handle complex scheduling constraints while delivering a simple customer experience.

Responsibilities :

Design and develop Northwood's cloud-based booking and reservation system for global antenna network access

Build and maintain customer-facing APIs and portals for everything from scheduling / booking, to automated network rerouting

Implement sophisticated workflows that provide strong guarantees to our customers, and make the most out of every site we deploy across the world

Design and implement Northwood's control and data planes, ensuring seamless integration across on-premises and cloud environments

Develop billing and metering systems that accurately track resource usage and generate invoices

Create orchestration systems to coordinate antenna operations across our global network

Support the design and implementation a comprehensive monitoring solution to ensure continuous platform uptime

Collaborate with site operations, network operations, and the larger software teams to build a truly resilient global network

Work with customers on defining secure and scalable interfaces for Telemetry, Tracking, and Control (TT&C) and payload data transfer, putting simplicity and extensibility first

Basic Qualifications :

6+ years of professional software development experience

3+ years building and scaling cloud-based services and APIs in production environments

Experience with distributed scheduling systems, resource allocation, or booking platforms

Proficiency in modern cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud)

Preferred Qualifications :

Experience with one or more of the following languages :

Rust, Golang, Haskell, etc…

Open to other languages suitable for cloud services and distributed systems

Experience building global-scale customer-facing platforms with high reliability requirements

Knowledge of API design, authentication, and access control best practices

Experience with event-driven architectures and message queues

Familiarity with billing systems, usage tracking, or subscription management

Understanding of simulation and modeling (Satellite propogation, etc…)

Experience with Kubernetes, containerization, and CI / CD pipelines

Knowledge of satellite communications or relevant domain experience (beneficial but not required)

Compensation and Benefits :

Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, and technical capabilities. In addition to base salary, Northwood offers long term incentives such as company stock, stock options, and cash awards, as well as discretionary bonus for performance. Northwood benefits include equity, health care, unlimited vacation, retirement savings and professional development.

Additional Information :

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin / ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.