Senior Backend Engineer, Spotify

Podcast

$160.1-228.7k

+ Equity

AWS

GCP

JavaScript

Java

MySQL

Rails

Mid and Senior level

Los Angeles

New York

Remote from Canada, US

More information about location

Commercial music streaming service

Job no longer available

Commercial music streaming service

1001+ employees

B2CMusicEntertainmentDigital MediaSaaSMobile

Job no longer available

$160.1-228.7k

+ Equity

AWS

GCP

JavaScript

Java

MySQL

Rails

Mid and Senior level

Los Angeles

New York

Remote from Canada, US

More information about location

1001+ employees

B2CMusicEntertainmentDigital MediaSaaSMobile

Company mission

To unlock the potential of human creativity—by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it

Job

Company

Role

Who you are

You have strong backend (4+ years) experience and a proven understanding of platform or distributed systems; full-stack experience would be advantageous
You’re experienced in Java; familiarity with JavaScript or Rails is a plus
You have hands-on experience with cloud platforms like GCP and AWS, and relational databases like MySQL
You’re highly adaptable and can quickly pick up new technologies, moving confidently across different systems and tech stacks
You’re comfortable using AI tools like Cursor and Claude to learn new technologies, speed up development, and problem-solve
You thrive in a fast-moving environment, handle change with ease, and communicate clearly with both teammates and partner engineering teams

What the job involves

The Mission Control team within Spotify’s Podcast Platform Product Area builds the core infrastructure that powers how podcasts are processed, uploaded, transformed, and distributed to the Spotify app
Our systems handle millions of episodes and creators, ensuring every piece of podcast content makes its way seamlessly to listeners worldwide
We’re a unique platform team that operates at both a low level, supporting non-platform teams within the Podcast Mission, while also building user-facing capabilities of our own and collaborating directly with our partners’ engineering teams.
Engineers on this team get exposed to a wide range of challenges and technologies — from platform infrastructure to creator-facing tools — making it an incredible place to learn and grow
We build high-impact systems that serve both hosted and non-hosted creators. For example, we’re developing new features that make it easier for creators to manage and monetize their content
You’ll also contribute to unification efforts that bring together Spotify’s various podcast acquisitions into a single cohesive platform, combining the best features from each acquisition and tech stack
Design and build reliable backend services that scale across millions of creators and episodes, enabling seamless podcast ingestion into Spotify
Drive technical discussions, propose new ideas, and help shape the future of podcast infrastructure
Collaborate closely with engineers, product managers, and multi-functional partners across the Podcast Mission
Participate in on-call and goalie rotations to maintain system health and reliability

Our take

Spotify was founded in an attempt to combat the rampant music piracy that was causing significant harm to the industry. The company has since taken music streaming mainstream and now has 180m+ paying subscribers across the world.

With features that include a highly accessible interface and a vast catalogue of artists, Spotify's strong brand has been able to maintain growth in spite of fierce competition from deep-pocketed rivals like Amazon and Apple. The company has achieved this by making smart acquisitions to move into other verticals to strengthen its offerings, especially podcasting, by acquiring Gimlet Media, Anchor and Parcast.

Spotify's future plans include rapid growth with a goal to become a one-stop destination for all digital sound, as well as AI and NFT integrations. However, high costs incurred from the acquisition of exclusive podcasts, increasing competitor strength, and weak bottom-line growth mean that the company must find a balance to maintain its position in the sector.

Freddie

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Insights

Top investors

23% employee growth in 12 months

Glassdoor (4)

Trustpilot (1.6)

Company

Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)

Jan 2016

$1bn

CONVERTIBLE

Jun 2015

$526m

SERIES G

Total funding: $2.1bn

Company benefits

Extensive learning opportunities, through our dedicated team, GreenHouse
Flexible share incentives letting you choose how you share in our success
Global parental leave, six months off - fully paid - for all new parents
All The Feels, our employee assistance program and self-care hub
Flexible public holidays, swap days off according to your values and beliefs

Company HQ

Norrmalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län

Leadership

Daniel Ek

(CEO & Chairman)

Founded Spotify in 2006. Previously worked as an executive at Tradera, an auction company that was sold to eBay and was briefly the CEO of uTorrent.

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