Senior Backend Engineer

Matternet is building the future of delivery with autonomous drone networks that move critical goods faster, cleaner, and at lower cost. We work with partners across healthcare, logistics, food, and retail to deliver everything from medical items to everyday essentials, safely and reliably. We're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join the platform team that builds and runs the backend, data, and infrastructure services behind Matternet's delivery network. You'll take ownership of significant services and carry them from design through deployment and operation, and contribute to the technical direction of the platform. This is a hands-on role in a safety-critical environment. You'll work across our Node.js/TypeScript services and GraphQL APIs, the data pipelines that move flight and telemetry data, and the tooling that keeps the fleet running. In this role, you will:

• Own and deliver backend services and APIs for delivery operations and partner integrations
• Build and extend the data pipelines that ingest and process flight, vehicle, and telemetry data
• Ensure the reliability, scalability, and security of services that support live operations
• Drive software verification, deployment, and observability across production systems
• Provide technical support, triaging and resolving production and field issues
• Collaborate with onboard software, operations, product, and safety teams

Requirements

• 6+ years building and operating production backend systems, with a track record of owning major components independently
• Strong backend proficiency in Node.js/TypeScript, or a comparable modern language you can ramp from quickly
• Solid grounding in API design (GraphQL and/or REST), relational databases, data modeling, and system design
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, containers, and CI/CD
• Strong practices around reliability, monitoring, and security
• Clear technical communication and cross-functional collaboration

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with fleet management, IoT/telemetry, or robotics systems
• Experience building with NestJS and Next.js (React a plus)
• Familiarity with event streaming or real-time messaging (Kafka, MQTT, or similar)
• Experience integrating with external partner systems and APIs
• UAV, aerospace, logistics, or other operationally critical domain experience
• Experience using AI coding assistants to accelerate development

Work Environment:

• This is a hybrid role based at our Mountain View headquarters.
• We are a small, agile, highly cross-functional team. The ability to work and communicate efficiently online with a hybrid team is critical to success.

Benefits

At Matternet, we’re advancing a new era of logistics, one where autonomous drones deliver what matters faster, cleaner, and more efficiently. We know our mission is challenging, but it's worth it, and we are committed to taking care of the people who make it possible.

• Compensation: The expected starting range for this role is $190,000–$240,000, based on San Francisco Bay Area market data. This range reflects the target starting pay for candidates who meet the minimum qualifications for the role. Final compensation will depend on factors such as your experience, skills, level, location, and potential impact.
• Total Rewards: In addition to base pay, our compensation packages include equity and benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage, flexible spending accounts (FSA), unlimited paid time off, company holidays, and a 401(k) plan.