Senior Backend Engineer

Job Description:

Senior Backend Engineer

Location

Remote, United States

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Remote

Department

Engineering

About Sleeper

Sleeper is on a mission to connect people over sports through games and community. As one of the fastest-growing fantasy sports platforms in the world, we're building the next generation of fantasy leagues, pick'em contests, and social sports engagement. Our team is small, nimble, and passionate about sports, product, and people. With millions of active users and a vibrant community, we believe in putting the user experience first—always.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to help us scale our systems, build new features, and ensure a world-class experience for our users. As a senior engineer, you’ll work on the core services that power Sleeper—from real-time contest logic to user personalization, payments, and data infrastructure.

You’ll partner closely with other engineers, product managers, and designers to bring features from idea to production. This is a hands-on, impact-driven role for someone who loves building robust systems that can handle millions of users at scale.

What You'll Do

• Design and build backend systems that power core Sleeper experiences, including fantasy contests, Sleeper Picks, user profiles, and real-time game interactions.

• Work across the stack to develop APIs, services, and infrastructure that are reliable, scalable, and secure.

• Improve system performance and reliability through profiling, monitoring, and optimization.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and frontend teams to ship features end-to-end.

• Mentor and support other engineers, contributing to code reviews and engineering best practices.

• Own features from design to deployment, bringing a strong sense of ownership and product thinking to everything you build.

Who You Are

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience, ideally with high-scale, consumer-facing applications.

• Proficient in modern backend languages such as Python, Go, Node.js, or similar.

• Comfortable designing APIs, data models, and distributed systems.

• Experience working with relational and NoSQL databases, message queues, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or similar).

• Excellent debugging and problem-solving skills; able to quickly identify performance bottlenecks or system issues.

• Strong communication skills and a collaborative, team-first mindset.

• Bonus: Passion for sports, gaming, or fantasy leagues.

Why Join Sleeper?

• Impact: You'll work on a product used by millions of fans, with a direct line to how users experience the app.

• Ownership: We trust our engineers to own their domains and make decisions that matter.

• Culture: We’re a tight-knit team with a collaborative mindset and a love for all things sports and tech.

• Growth: Be part of a high-growth startup where you’ll wear many hats, learn fast, and grow even faster.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and stock options.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• 401(k).

• Flexible working hours and remote work options.

• Opportunities for career advancement.