Sr. Lead Backend Developer

Job Title

Lead I - Software Engineering

Job Summary

UST is looking for Sr. Lead Backend Developer

The Opportunity

• We are looking for a hands-on Backend Developer Lead to own the API and service layer of a large-scale geospatial platform built on Next.js, tRPC and PostgreSQL/PostGIS, running on Google Cloud Run.
• This is a modular monolith, not a microservices estate - a documented route manager engine repository architecture, wired with Inversify dependency injection, across 11 PostgreSQL schemas and 69 data models.
• The role demands genuine depth: you will complete an unfinished authorisation refactor, finish a streaming-export programme, resolve a dual-ORM strategy, and clear a significant security remediation backlog - all in a 65,000-line codebase with only 9 test files.
• The ideal candidate is a strong backend engineer who is comfortable owning technical design and leading a team while remaining predominantly hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Lead the hands-on design and development of the API and service layer using TypeScript, Next.js, tRPC 11 and Zod. Own 17 tRPC routers and 17 REST route handlers, and the layered architecture behind them - managers, engines and repositories wired with Inversify.
• Complete the unified authorisation refactor currently unfinished across open merge requests - make server-side authorisation authoritative and treat UI checks as convenience only.
• Own PostgreSQL 16 + PostGIS 3.5 across 11 schemas - schema design, indexing, query plans, and transaction boundaries.
• Resolve the dual-ORM strategy: Prisma owns 128 migrations, Drizzle owns 11, both targeting the same database.
• Publish and enforce an ownership map per bounded context.
• Own the import pipeline - 14 import. staging tables converted into live schemas under transaction, including plan survey, personal plan and plan spend imports.
• Complete the streaming CSV export programme across five bulk export routes, preserving correct backpressure (ReadableStream with pull()) and cursor-based pagination - no loading whole datasets into memory.
• Clear the security remediation backlog - 182 findings including 15 critical and 49 high - covering dependency advisories, an SSRF in application code, and secret rotation.
• Own authentication and session via NextAuth 4 and Okta/OIDC, including permission utilities and organisation/group scoping.
• Integrate Google Cloud services - Cloud Storage across 8 buckets, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, Secret Manager, and GCP logging.
• Establish backend test coverage where almost none exists - a database-backed integration harness, plus unit tests on permissions, geometry, subscriptions and export engines.
• Set and enforce backend engineering standards: coding conventions, code review, testing, and documentation.
• Champion the effective use of AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT) to accelerate delivery and raise code quality.
• Own backend non-functional quality: performance, scalability, resilience, observability, and security.
• Identify and pay down technical debt across oversized routers (organization-router.ts 1,102 lines, plan-router.ts 994, import-router.ts 815).
• Collaborate with Frontend, Architecture, QA and DevOps to deliver business outcomes. Mentor backend engineers and support technical growth.

Required Skills Experience

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of backend software development experience, including 2+ years leading a team or squad technically.
• Deep expertise in TypeScript and Node.js in production.
• Strong experience with tRPC or a comparable typed RPC layer - routers, procedures, middleware, and the typed client/server contract.
• Strong experience with Next.js server-side - route handlers, App Router API design, instrumentation.ts, and standalone output.
• Zod or equivalent runtime validation at the API boundary.
• Deep PostgreSQL - schema design, indexing strategy, query plans, and transaction isolation.
• You should read EXPLAIN ANALYZE comfortably.
• Experience with multi-schema PostgreSQL - search paths, cross-schema foreign keys, and permissions.
• Strong ORM experience - Prisma and/or Drizzle - including migration strategy and the judgement to run two ORMs safely side by side.
• Node streams / Web Streams - genuine understanding of backpressure, not just piping.
• Dependency injection in a JavaScript/TypeScript runtime - Inversify or equivalent - including lifecycle and scoping in a serverless runtime.
• Layered architecture discipline: thin routes, orchestrating managers, domain engines, persistence-only repositories.
• Authentication and authorisation at implementation level - OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, session management, and permission modelling.
• Application security fundamentals - OWASP Top 10, SSRF defence, secrets management, dependency advisory remediation.

Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.