Senior Backend Engineer

About Toptal

Toptal is a global network of top talent in business, design, and technology that enables companies to scale their teams, on-demand. With $200+ million in annual revenue and team members based around the globe, Toptal is the world’s largest fully remote workforce.

We take the best elements of virtual teams and combine them with a support structure that encourages innovation, social interaction, and fun. We see no borders, move at a fast pace, and are never afraid to break the mold.

Job Summary: Senior Backend Engineer

Ruby on Rails powers Toptal’s public-facing web presence, and we’re looking for a sharp Ruby developer to help us take it further.

As a member of the Public Website team, you’ll build and maintain the systems that shape how the world experiences Toptal. We’re a product team that delivers value directly to end-users, working closely with the business to ship features that matter.

You’ll develop new capabilities, improve our existing codebase, and contribute to the services behind toptal.com. Our stack centers on Ruby, but extends into GraphQL, Kafka, Node.js edge workers, and other supporting services when the work demands it.

This is a remote position. We do not offer visa sponsorship or assistance. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.

Responsibilities

• Write elegant, efficient, and testable Ruby code that is easy to maintain and debug.
• Cover code with tests and perform manual testing of features, while reviewing the work of colleagues.
• Work on the infrastructure part of the project, collaborating with Infrastructure Engineers.
• As a true teammate, continuously improve the team’s processes, brainstorm ideas, communicate statuses, and progress.
• Mentor team members, provide feedback, and continuously improve as a professional.
• Learn new concepts and technologies.
• Design, develop, document, analyze, create, test or modify computer or cloud-based systems or programs.

First Week Expectations

• Join our team, where you will be introduced to Toptal’s practices and processes.
• Start participating in company-wide training sessions.
• Set up your local environment and get familiar with our tech stack.
• Create your first pull request.

First Month Expectations

• Familiarize yourself with the team’s business domain.
• Contribute to our product development.
• Develop a deeper understanding of our technologies, processes, and product pipeline.

First Three Months Expectations

• Actively supply software planning, development, and maintenance.
• Suggest and implement improvements to Toptal’s processes and codebase, while exercising discretion and independent judgment.

First Six Months Expectations

• Lead technical initiatives in our team.
• Drive improvements to the codebase and processes.

First Year Expectations

• Have a detailed understanding of Toptal’s technical stack, collaboration rituals, processes, and performance.
• Mentor Toptal’s new team members.

Qualifications and Job Requirements

• 5+ years of web development experience with Ruby/Rails.
• 5 years of experience with SQL databases.
• Strong knowledge of object-oriented programming, automated software testing, development, and testing essential methodologies.
• Knowledge of GraphQL and Kafka is preferred but not required.
• Ability to consider multiple quality dimensions like user impact, failure tolerance, code maintenance, implementation time, security breaches, and performance.
• Be genuinely interested in technology and love to try new things.
• Tackle complex problems by considering multiple solutions, weighing them, and deciding on the best course of action.
• Must have outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Thrive on providing and receiving transparent but always constructive feedback.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and handle a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and a diverse array of contacts.
• You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do.

Key skills/competency

• Ruby on Rails
• Backend Development
• SQL Databases
• Object-Oriented Programming
• Automated Testing
• GraphQL
• Kafka
• Node.js
• Code Review
• System Design