Backend Engineer, Whatnot
Community
$185-245k
+ Stock Options. Salary applicable to US locations only
Live stream platform & marketplace for collectibles
Job no longer available
Live stream platform & marketplace for collectibles
501-1000 employees
Job no longer available
$185-245k
+ Stock Options. Salary applicable to US locations only
501-1000 employees
Company mission
Whatnot missions is to enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce.
Role
Who you are
- As our next backend engineer, you should have 5+ years of full-time software engineering experience in high growth startups
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent work experience
- Backend Expertise: Proven track record of designing and building highly scalable, maintainable systems in multiple languages (we use Python, Elixir, JavaScript, but no specific language is required). Experience with performant, real-time systems such as chat, auctions, and multiplayer games is a preferred
- Product Instinct: Excel at translating user needs to effective technical solutions
- Problem Solving: Thrive in ambiguity and tackle challenging problems with autonomy
- Team Leadership: Mentor others and foster inclusive, supportive team culture
- Ownership Mindset: Own projects holistically from inception to production and beyond. You are known for shipping products and features lightning-fast
What the job involves
- As part of the Community team, you will build the social aspects of WhatNot that foster lasting connections between sellers and buyers. Meaningful connections are crucial for buyer retention and are a primary driver for WhatNot’s business
- We are a fullstack team that owns end-to-end product experiences including live shows, chatting, messaging, user profiles, tipping, and social sharing. You will drive building new strategic initiatives, scaling our existing experiences, and prototyping ideas to inform our roadmap
- As a foundational members of our BE team, you will strike the right balance between building with speed, product impact, and technical excellence. Our products include real-time user interactions and critical monetization flows, so you will design with high concurrency, low latency, and stability in mind
Our take
The collectible toy market is large, and Whatnot has built a unique social platform that enables sellers to use livestreams to showcase their products and reach more buyers. The company’s focus is on collectible toys, some of which are rare and can cost thousands of dollars, and has also expanded to sports cards.
The idea of Whatnot was led by buyer trends. Instagram's live feature became a popular place for selling toys and trading cards, but of course was not set up to facilitate bidding or handling payments after a sale occurs. Whatnot combines live showcasing with follow-up sale capabilities, thus serving the community in a more novel way than established collectibles market players such as eBay.
The company has grown fast. It was established in 2019 and has already expanded from its original category - Funko Pop figurines - to Pokemon cards, pins, sports cards, and many more. There is still plenty of scope for expanding into new categories, as the company aims to establish itself as the go-to for this large niche, which will be facilitated by the strong levels of funding that Whatnot has raised.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Few candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
54% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Employee endorsements
Hard working team
"Everyone here puts in the work. It's refreshing to work on a team where everyone is carrying their weight and lifting each other up. The work ethic..."
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Jul 2022
$260m
SERIES D
Sep 2021
$150m
SERIES C
Total funding: $484.2m
Company benefits
- Wellness: Health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. We also cover some of the cost for your dependents as well.
- Compensation: Full-time Whatnauts receive equity, a WFH stipend to support your remote workspace and a monthly stipend to dogfood the app.
- Recharge: Flexible Time Off policy, holiday week off at the end of year, and paid parental leave after 1 year with us.
- Flexibility: Remote-first work culture. We provide a working environment where you're in charge of your time and schedule.
Company values
- Always listen to customers
- Move uncomfortably fast
- Prioritize impact ruthlessly
- Own everything and nothing
- Set crazy goals
- Provide extreme transparency
- Optimize for the upside
- Team over ego
- Figure it out
- Deeply understand why
- Have fun & be nice
Company HQ
Marina del Rey, CA
Articles
Leadership
Grant LaFontaine
(Co-Founder & CEO)Former Product Marketing Manager at Google, Project Manager at Facebook. Also co-founded Kit.
Logan Head
(Co-Founder)Experience in Engineering, including at Maker's Row, Factr, and Flight Club. Former Senior Product Manager at GOAT.
Salary benchmarks
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