Senior Backend Engineer (PostgreSQL Specialist)

Role Details: U.S. | Full Time | Remote Applause Hiring Manager: Scotty Rogers, CTO & Co-founder
Benefits: 100% remote w/ no office mandate | Unlimited PTO | 20 official company holidays | Health care | Life insurance | Stock options | Amazing colleagues | Energetic culture that is positive and celebrates together | Inspiring mission & software product | Ability to grow your career by being early in a fast-growing tech startup | Ability to ship a lot of new features and make a real impact
Purpose: The purpose of this role is to own the design, structure, and performance of our PostgreSQL database, helping Applause scale efficiently as usage grows 10x and beyond. You’ll lead strategic initiatives to optimize data storage, query performance, and system throughput across all backend services. Beyond database expertise, you’ll still ship backend code, contribute to feature development, and establish backend conventions that boost team velocity and reliability.
Job Description: The Senior Backend Engineer (PostgreSQL Specialist) will work closely with our cto/co-founder to design and implement a world-class data architecture. You’ll be responsible for ensuring our database and backend systems scale smoothly, remain performant under heavy load, and align with product growth.
Responsibilities:
Own the design, structure, and optimization of all PostgreSQL databases across the platform.
Implement indexing, partitioning, caching, and query optimization strategies to improve performance and reliability.
Work cross-functionally to architect and evolve data models that support new features while maintaining efficiency and data integrity.
Collaborate with the backend engineering team to ensure backend services integrate seamlessly with database systems.
Monitor and tune database performance using metrics and profiling tools.
Develop, test, and release backend code that meets Applause’s high engineering standards, delivering 90%+ on-time releases.
Establish and document conventions and best practices for working with data and backend services.
Lead backend initiatives from concept to release—providing technical direction, mentorship, and quality oversight.
Qualifications
7–12 years of backend engineering experience.
5+ years of production experience with PostgreSQL (including advanced indexing, schema design, and performance tuning).
Strong knowledge of scaling databases in a high-traffic SaaS environment.
Proficiency with Node.js or a comparable backend environment.
Experience with query optimization, replication, partitioning, and migrations.
High personal standards for code quality, documentation, and maintainability.
Thrives in a fully remote, fast-moving startup environment.
Bonus: Experience with database observability tools (e.g., pg_stat_statements, pganalyze, New Relic) or infrastructure-as-code tools for database management.
About Applause: Applause is a SaaS start-up founded by experienced entrepreneurs and backed by the best VCs in Silicon Slopes. We’re focused on helping companies supercharge their team’s performance so they can win more lifelong customers. Learn more about our company and culture here: https://applausehq.com/aboutus