Principal Software Engineer

About the Harmonic team

• Explore Working with Sang to understand decision-making processes related to the engineering function.
• Explore the Team Page to get acquainted with the rest of the company. 

The role

We are looking for a technical lead and architect who can build and reinforce our foundation for efficient large-scale data processing, and blazing fast product experiences. We source and coerce huge amounts of first-, second-, and third-party data from hundreds of channels, run dozens of AI/ML models on top of that data, and need it to be available in real-time across our applications that customers use to find, evaluate and manage their engagement with, startups. Scaling our data engine, search index/engine, and applications, with strong consistency across our surfaces and delightful performance, requires creative and elegant architecture across our stack.

If you're a systems design wizard who obsessively maps out and optimizes the foundation to accommodate all its components and are unsatisfied unless the end-user experience is best in class, please reach out since this may be the right role for you.

What you'll do

• Architect and implement high-performance, offline-capable web applications, including frontend, backend, and data syncing components.
  • Implement offline data storage using APIs like IndexedDB, LocalStorage, or CacheAPI.
  • Utilize queues and observables to enhance resilience and manage complexity.
• Design and implement robust multiplayer functionality:
  • Develop real-time synchronization mechanisms
  • Implement server-side logic for managing states 
  • Optimize network communication to minimize latency and ensure smooth interactions.
• Experience with large-scale data management and synchronization
  • Demonstrate proficiency in designing and implementing efficient data synchronization processes across multiple data storage and serving layers (e.g., databases, caches, search indexes).
  • Have hands-on experience working with backend systems that handle high volumes of data.
  • Understand the challenges and solutions for maintaining data consistency and performance in distributed systems with large datasets.
• Lead migration efforts from legacy applications to modern, scalable solutions.

Role requirements

• Experience architecting and implementing high-performance, offline-capable web applications, including frontend, backend, and data syncing components. Proficiency with offline data storage solutions (IndexedDB, LocalStorage, CacheAPI) and real-time synchronization technologies such as WebSockets.
• Experience in large tech environments with a deep understanding of best practices for scaling systems, and/or hands-on growth experience in startups, having navigated and solved the growing pains firsthand.
• 3+ years of frontend experience: Demonstrated ability to build intuitive, user-facing, delightful products.
• 3+ years of backend experience: Demonstrated in building systems that scale and have experience working with various databases, data orchestration, and managing data consistency.

Plus If...

• 2+ years of experience in an early-stage startup.
• 3+ years of experience in leading teams either as a Technical Lead or Engineering Manager.
• Proven track record migrating systems in a changing environment that allows for little to no downtime to meet increasing demand.
• Experience in optimizing applications for performance and responsiveness.
• Obsessed about your craft and share your knowledge (tech talks, articles, open source, etc).
• Experience in working in Python/strongly typed languages.

Pay

$300k+ Salary + Equity (flexible depending on the level)

Our stack

The Process

Here’s our interview process:

• (20 mins) Introduction Chat: Let's discuss whether Harmonic is the right place for you. We'll review your experience and allocate time for any questions you may have.
• (30 mins) Initial Technical Screen: A technical discussion where we deep dive into how you'd approach a few different problems. Don’t worry, this won’t be a LeetCode-style interview :)
• (~5 hours) Take-Home Exercise: We will send you a description of a challenge akin to ones you would face at Harmonic and ask you to come up with a creative solution. Understanding that schedules can be tight, you’ll have a 48-hour window to complete this at your convenience.
• Interview Day: To streamline the process and respect your time, we try to consolidate the following into one day:
  • (45 minutes each) Team interview: Meet with a member of our Product team to see how you would collaborate and Sang, our Head of Engineering, to make sure there is mutual culture fit.
  • (2.5 hours) Engineering Jam Session: Detailed discussion of the take-home to measure technical skills. This will involve coding with 2-3 engineers on our team.
• (45 min) Get to know Max, our CEO!
• (Async) Reference Checks.