Job Description
Senior Backend Engineer (Distributed Systems, Go)
We are partnering with a high-calibre, engineering-led company operating in a live market environment where software correctness has real financial impact. This is a senior individual contributor backend role focused on building and evolving distributed systems at the core of the platform.
If you’ve worked in high-scale environments (think FAANG/MAANG-level engineering standards) but are now craving more ownership, less process theatre, and closer proximity to real-world outcomes - this will resonate.
The stack is primarily Go, with Python across data-intensive components. Engineers work directly with the business - there’s no heavy product layer insulating decision-making - and are expected to own problems end-to-end: architecture, implementation, and production behaviour.
This is where deep R&D meets production every day.
The Role
You’ll be:
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Designing and building distributed systems in Go
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Turning core research and innovation into production-grade systems
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Owning architecture, implementation, and operational behaviour
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Working directly with stakeholders to define and solve problems
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Operating in a small, low-hierarchy engineering team
This is not a feature-delivery or ticket-driven environment. It’s a builder’s role.
What They’re Looking For
Strong alignment:
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Deep backend and distributed systems experience
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Background in high-reliability environments (e.g. financial systems, trading, infrastructure-heavy platforms)
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Startup exposure preferred
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Comfortable with ambiguity and defining your own work
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Motivated by impact and capability over titles
They are deliberately screening for engineers who want to spend most of their time writing meaningful code. Candidates who lean heavily on hierarchy, rigid process, or title progression as the primary measure of growth are unlikely to thrive here.
Growth is abundant - but it’s capability-led, not title-led.
Compensation
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Good Base Salary
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Equity dependent on experience
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4-year vesting with 12-month cliff
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Accelerated vesting on exit
Interview Process
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Initial technical + culture screen
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90-minute technical deep dive (Q&A + whiteboarding)
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Final screen
If you’re an experienced backend engineer who thrives in low-bureaucracy environments and wants to build high-integrity systems where correctness genuinely matters, I’d love to have a confidential conversation. Send your resumes and queries to reema@theonset.com.au