Lead Backend Engineer (Ruby On Rails) - Fully Remote

Job Description

Do you have end to end project experience in a Mobile First Product Company? Do you have experience leading a backend team and with Ruby On Rails?   Great! Please read on as we have a role for you. Join a profitable, fast-moving mobile apps startup as a Backend Lead, where you’ll own the core backend behind social and dating products used by hundreds of thousands of users. You’ll lead a senior team of 4–5 backend engineers, reporting directly to the CEO, and be responsible for turning product and business goals into clear technical roadmaps, sprint plans, and high-quality execution. Your work will be a mix of hands-on leadership and coding in a fully remote, international environment.   On the technical side, you’ll take charge of a high-traffic Ruby on Rails platform and power ongoing feature development while modernising the architecture. You’ll lead key initiatives such as improving performance and reliability, introducing better caching and data flows, and supporting real-time features at scale on AWS. You’ll be the one making and documenting critical technical decisions, ensuring smooth deployments and stable APIs, and stepping in when needed to debug complex production issues, all with the goal of turning a good backend into a high-output, well-organised machine.   This is a fully remote B2B contract opportunity with a base salary that goes up to $120,000 USD per year Your Tasks Will Include: Lead and mentor a team of mid/senior backend engineers (4–5), including 1:1s, feedback, and performance management   Translate product and business goals into clear technical roadmaps, sprint plans, and backend priorities   Own the backend architecture and technical vision for mobile-first, consumer-facing apps used by tens of thousands of daily active users   Drive and oversee implementation of new features for our mobile apps, working closely with iOS/Android, Product, Data, DevOps and Trust & Safety teams   Take key architectural decisions around scalability, performance, reliability, data flows, and infrastructure on AWS   Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, improve API speed and reliability, and design effective caching and database strategies   Establish and continuously improve engineering processes, coding standards, code review practices, and deployment/CI pipelines   Create and maintain clear technical documentation and design specs for backend systems and major initiatives   Handle prioritisation and trade-offs in a fast-moving environment with changing quarterly priorities   Be hands-on with coding and code reviews, especially for complex or high-impact areas, and step in during critical production incidents   To be a good fit for the Lead Backend Engineer role: 8+ years of professional backend development experience in production environments and most recent experience in leading a backend teams   Proven experience owning backend architecture for a mobile-first, consumer-facing app  Strong hands-on expertise with Ruby On Rails Experience building and scaling high-traffic systems (Over 10k+ daily active users) with a focus on performance and reliability   Solid understanding of distributed systems, relational databases, caching, and performance optimization  Practical experience working in the cloud (preferably AWS) and collaborating closely with DevOps / infrastructure engineers   Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical topics and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders (e.g. CEO, Product)   Background in a startup or fast-moving product companies, comfortable with changing priorities and making pragmatic trade-offs   Strong product mindset,  user-focused, impact-driven, and able to connect technical decisions to business outcomes   Comfortable taking ownership, making decisions, and leading in a fully remote, distributed team environment   Our Client Offers: Fully Remote Role with flexible working hours (core collaboration typically in European daytime)  30k USD bonuses (seasonal + EOY, dependant on individual and company performance) Work on high-impact, high-scale mobile products (millions of downloads) in a profitable, growing startup   Strong engineering culture: open-minded, low-ego, direct communication, and high ownership    Access to company-provided AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor company accounts) to boost your productivity   27 days of paid vacation (15 days of personal leave + 12 days of public holidays following your local country calendar)   Company paid team trips, 1–2 times per year to attractive locations (e.g. Thailand, Bali) including flights and accommodation   Opportunity to shape technical direction, processes, and st