Senior Server Engineer, Strava
Achieve
3+ days a week in office
Social network for tracking run and cycle routes
Open for applications
Social network for tracking run and cycle routes
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
3+ days a week in office
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To create the most committed, close, and engaged athlete community on the internet.
Role
Who you are
- You have 6+ years of professional software development experience or equivalent expertise in backend engineering
- You are proficient in at least one of Strava’s core backend languages (Ruby, Java, Scala, Python, or Go)
- You have experience with relational (e.g., MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., Redis, Cassandra) databases in production environments
- You have a solid understanding of distributed systems, API design (GraphQL is a plus), and technologies like Kafka, Kubernetes, and Docker
- You excel at mentoring engineers and fostering a positive, growth-oriented team culture
What the job involves
- Strava is the leading digital community for active people, with more than 125 million athletes across 190+ countries. As the record of the world’s athletic activities, Strava connects athletes to what motivates them and helps them find their personal best
- We’re seeking a Senior Server Engineer to join the Achieve team, specializing in backend and server-side development to support product and feature initiatives for the Progress Tab on Strava’s mobile app.
- In this role, you will play a key part in designing and building scalable services and systems that elevate the Strava experience for millions of athletes worldwide
- Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services using Strava’s tech stack (Ruby, Java, Scala, Python, Go, MySQL, Redis, Cassandra, Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, Elasticsearch, and GraphQL)
- Develop and optimize APIs that seamlessly integrate with client-facing applications to deliver impactful features
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners, including product managers, designers, and client-side engineers, to align technical implementation with business needs
- Mentor and support other engineers, fostering a culture of learning, growth, and technical excellence
- Ensure service reliability, scalability, and performance while balancing technical debt with new feature development
- Delivering robust, high-quality backend solutions that meet user and business needs
- Owning services end-to-end, from design and development through deployment and maintenance
- Aligning technical architecture with Strava’s long-term goals while supporting product scalability and growth
- Encouraging a collaborative and inclusive team environment through mentorship and technical leadership
- Promoting best practices in coding, testing, and operational excellence
Our take
Strava has created an online network where runners, swimmers and cyclists can record fitness activities, and compare and compete with their community. It offers both a free and premium subscription service with added features. The company also partners with local councils and urban planners who purchase valuable journey data from Strava which can be used to map out cities and develop safer cycle paths.
The platform helps members discover and plan workouts, as well as offering a leaderboard which is updated using GPS as users compete for the top spot on particular fitness segments.
With over 125 million athletes and growing, Strava released several new product rollouts in 2024, including an AI-enabled leaderboard. A partnership with the wearable fitness tracker Oura will mean Strava software is available on wearables, taking Strava into fresh competition with the likes of Peloton and Apple.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Few candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
-6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Nov 2020
$110m
SERIES F
Oct 2014
$18m
LATE VC
Total funding: $151.4m
Company benefits
- Competitive base salary & stock options
- 100% company paid benefits for employees and families
- Flexible paid time off
- $2,000 annual professional development stipend
- Paid time off for volunteering
- 401(k) plan - with company matching
- $1000 annual gear stipend
- $500 annual gym or coaching reimbursement
- On-site fitness rooms with showers, lockers, and towel service
- Weekly team workouts – including remote employees
- Safe and secure bike storage on-site
- Weekly all hands meetings
- Employee resource groups
- Anti-racism nonprofit company matching program
- Free lunch on Wednesdays on-site
- Regular team happy hours
- Team offsites and company retreats
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Generous industry discounts on gear and activities
- Race entries to events we sponsor
- Snacks and stocked kitchens on-site
- Strava gear
Company values
- Antiracism
- Authenticity
- Balance
- Craftsmanship
- Camaraderie
- Commitment
Company HQ
Mission District, San Francisco, CA
Articles
Leadership
Mark Gainey
(Chairman)Having studied at Harvard, Mark started their career as a TA Associates Associate before co-founding Kana Communications and several Board Membership roles. They co-founded Strava in 2007, serving since as Chairman.
Michael Horvath
(CEO & Board Member)Michael co-founded Kana with Mark before working as an Economics Professor at Stanford and Dartmouth. They worked for 4 years as CFO of GlycoFi before co-founding Strava, serving initially as CEO and since 2017 as a Board Member.
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