Sr. Software Engineer - Backend/Full-stack (Copy)

Responsibilities

You will own the full software development lifecycle for backend services, including design, implementation, and deployment. You will also collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve platform performance, reliability, and feature quality.

Requirements

The role requires 1-2 years of professional software engineering experience, specifically with Python or Go. Candidates should have a strong background in system design, data modeling, and a proven ability to own features from conception to production.

Skills

• Python
• Go
• Software development lifecycle
• Backend development
• Data modeling
• System design
• AI-assisted development
• Technical documentation
• Code reviews
• Performance optimization
• Debugging
• Feature deployment
• API development
• Software architecture

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• Commuter plans
• Parental leave

About this role

Instrumental builds the manufacturing acceleration platform behind the world's
most complex electronics. We capture digital exhaust and engineering context
from assembly lines — images, test logs, BOM data, performance, repair cycles —
and our AI engines identify insights that are difficult or impossible for human
engineers to find. We accelerate the companies building the AI era by improving
manufacturing yield, throughput, and ramp. NVIDIA, Meta, L3Harris, and their
manufacturing partners rely on Instrumental to accelerate new product
introduction and production.

We're entering one of the most important periods in our company's history. Over
the next year, we'll be rebuilding our platform layer for a scale it wasn't
originally built for — and the engineer who joins now will shape that
architecture as much as anyone.

Instrumental is hiring a Backend Engineer to build the services and features
behind our product. You’ll join a product team alongside experienced engineers
and ship backend work that customers rely on every day. This is a product
engineering role, not an infrastructure role.

We’re looking for someone with 1-2 years of professional experience who is
comfortable with problems that aren’t fully defined, makes thoughtful decisions
within their area while knowing when to pull in others, and contributes to how
the team works through code reviews, documentation, and sharing what they learn.
Early-career engineers at Instrumental get real ownership quickly, and they earn
it by showing up responsibly and following through.

What You’ll Be Doing:
* Own the full software development lifecycle across design, implementation,
testing, deployment, release and validation
* Build and improve the backend services behind our product, learning to
balance shipping quickly with writing code that’s simple and easy to maintain
* Take responsibility for the quality of features in production by validating
your work, investigating issues, and improving performance and reliability.
* Use AI-assisted development tools to move faster and share what works with
the team
* Spot technical debt and tooling gaps in your area and bring well-reasoned
proposals for what to tackle
* Work with engineers across teams to deliver features that support our
product, AI, and edge systems

We’re Looking for :
* 1–2 years as a software engineer, ideally at a startup or on a small team
where you shipped code that real users depended on
* You’ve owned a feature or component from start to finish, including scoping
it, building it, getting it to production, and fixing it when it broke, even
if someone more senior shaped the overall design
* Comfort working through problems that aren’t fully defined. You ask good
questions, make reasonable calls when you don’t have every answer, and learn
from how those calls turn out
* Solid working knowledge of Python or Go, plus a genuine interest in data
modeling and system design and a desire to get much better at both
* You use AI-assisted development tools as part of your everyday workflow and
are eager to share what’s working with your teammates
* Signs that you grow quickly, such as taking on more responsibility over time,
picking up feedback fast, or being the person teammates came to for a
particular area

We’re a growing team that works collaboratively, supports each other, and is
energized by having an impact. We value passion and the ability to learn —
you’re encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t match the job
description precisely!

The following is a representative annual base salary range for this position
within the Bay Area: $136,000-$177,000. In addition, job level and salary
opportunities are evaluated during our interview process — we review each
applicant's experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Instrumental is proud to offer a highly-rated variety of benefits, including
health, vision, dental, commuter plans, and parental leave.

At Instrumental, protecting company and customer information is a shared
responsibility. Employees are expected to comply with company engineering,
security, access control, and privacy policies, and promptly report suspected
security incidents or policy violations.

About Instrumental, Inc.

Software Development · 51-200 employees · headquartered in Palo Alto, California