We are hiring for two critical backend leadership roles. The first is to lead the development of our short-form video system—a TikTok-like feature built natively into the platform—covering the full pipeline from video upload and processing to delivery, feed ranking, and real-time engagement. This role requires experience with high-throughput media systems, low-latency delivery, and scalable feed architecture. The second role is to lead the build-out of our football history data engine, a large-scale structured content system designed for SEO, powering millions of pages across teams, players, and competitions. This includes designing data models, ingestion pipelines, and server-side rendering strategies to generate fast, search-optimized pages at scale. Both roles require strong ownership, system design capability, and the ability to build and ship foundational infrastructure in a startup environment.Founding Backend Rust EngineerAbout the RoleOleOle is building a global, real-time social and messaging platform for sports fans — from the ground up, natively in Rust.This is not a feature role and not a task-driven role.We are looking for a senior backend engineer who has owned systems before and is comfortable making foundational architectural decisions that will not be rewritten later.You will design and evolve the backend architecture powering public conversations, real-time messaging, video, commerce, and token-based incentives for millions of users worldwide.What You’ll Be Responsible ForDesigning and owning core backend architecture in Rust (async-first)Defining service boundaries, data ownership, and evolution strategyDesigning scalable APIs (REST and/or GraphQL) for mobile and web clientsModeling and operating PostgreSQL as a long-term source of truthArchitecting real-time systems (feeds, messaging, event-driven workflows)Making tradeoffs around consistency, latency, and scalabilityWorking with DevOps while retaining backend architectural authorityReviewing critical code paths and preventing premature complexityHelping shape the backend team as the company growsWhat Makes Someone Successful in This Role You have personally designed and operated production backend systems
You can explain architectural decisions and tradeoffs clearly
You understand what breaks at scale and how to prevent it
You focus on practical engineering over buzzwords
You are comfortable working without excessive process or hand-holding
You care about long-term system quality, not just shipping features
You have strong technical judgment and know when simplicity is the better solutionWe value real-world experience, ownership, and depth of understanding significantly more than keyword-heavy resumes.This role is hands-on, but judgment matters more than output volume.What You’ll Be BuildingYou will help lay the foundation for a native Rust platform that includes: A large-scale social graph (users, clubs, countries, conversations)Public feeds and real-time messagingVideo and media delivery pipelinesToken-based rewards and commerceAPI infrastructure used across mobile, web, and internal servicesEvent-driven systems supporting live updates and notifications Required Experience7–12+ years of professional backend engineering experienceProven ownership of backend systems in productionStrong, real-world Rust experience (async systems, not experiments)Deep understanding of PostgreSQL data modeling and performanceExperience designing APIs and explaining tradeoffs clearlyExperience building or evolving systems that had to scaleAbility to reason about architecture without hiding behind buzzwords If you’ve never been responsible for a system’s long-term health, this is not the role.Nice to Have (Not Required)Experience with real-time systems (feeds, messaging, streaming)Experience with high-write or high-fanout workloadsETL / data pipelinesMedia or video delivery systemsToken, wallet, or crypto-adjacent systems (non-blockchain core)Compensation & StageCompensation is deferred until fundingMeaningful equity and long-term ownershipFounding-level responsibility and influenceSmall team, high autonomy, minimal processThis role is for engineers who want ownership, not safety.What This Role Is NOTNot a ticket-driven implementation roleNot a DevOps-led backend roleNot a resume-padding opportunityNot suitable for junior or mid-level engineers