About PGLS:
PGLS is a leading provider of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Training solutions in over 200 languages and regional varieties. Headquartered in the Washington D.C. area with team members spanning five continents, PGLS is a minority-owned company that provides unique, innovative and scalable solutions that advance the global missions of its partners.

Position Summary

As a Senior Backend Engineer at PGLS, you will be an early member of our team, playing a pivotal role as we build the engineering organization to modernize the Interpretation and Translation industry.

You will be a core technical contributor to our young tech stack, product development, and engineering processes. We prioritize tools that efficiently solve the problems at hand. We currently use a TypeScript-based stack.

Job responsibilities

• Build and develop robust, scalable backend services and APIs using Node.js and TypeScript.
• Lead technical initiatives, building features from concept to deployment and ensuring best practices in design and implementation.
• Collaborate across teams to integrate third-party SDKs, applications, and tools, enabling seamless product functionality.
• Design and optimize large-scale relational databases (PostgreSQL) and distributed systems.
• Implement and manage real-time data handling using WebSockets and event-driven architectures.
• Drive DevOps practices, contributing to CI/CD pipelines and ensuring smooth, automated deployments.
• Take ownership of projects and lead the charge in delivering high-impact solutions that solve complex challenges.
• Mentor junior engineers, sharing knowledge and promoting growth within the team.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software development, with a focus on backend development
• Mastery of NestJS, NodeJS, PostgreSQL, and TypeScript;
• Experience with integrating backend APIs with SDKs
• Extensive experience developing web applications, preferably in an agile SaaS environment.
• Knowledgeable in DevOps practices and continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD) best practices.
• Experience implementing highly-available distributed systems and micro-services.
• Proficient in working with large relational databases
• Proven track record of owning and delivering technically challenging projects.

Good to have:

• Experience building chat systems, video/online meeting platforms is a huge plus!

You will thrive in this role if:

• You are passionately product-minded and have experience building and shipping new products.
• You always strive to write high-quality code and automated tests, and you care about the details.
• You work in an autonomous environment on a close-knit team, with a startup feel
• You have a “get to the bottom of it” attitude; you’re comfortable with ambiguity and willing—excited, even! —to dig into problems that don’t have straightforward solutions.
• You have excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work closely with designers, backend engineers, and product managers
• You are creative and proactive – you have an ability to solve complex problems without a roadmap