Senior Software Engineer

Location: Hybrid (NYC) / Remote (UTC-8 to UTC+1)

About Chalice

Chalice (chalice.ai) is the leading AI solution for brands applying their own data and analytics to real-time decisioning in ad buying. Our platform automates data ingestion, predictive analytics, and the deployment of custom bidding logic across all major DSPs, Meta, and YouTube. Chalice has been recognized as "Best Demand Side Tech" by AdExchanger and powered AdWeek's "Best Use of Programmatic" in the 2023 Media Plan of the Year awards.

Organizational Context

This role is for a senior figure on the Engineering team. They will report to the VP of Engineering, but be expected to operate without day-to-day direction. The Engineering team is responsible for maintaining core operational infrastructure and data ingress and egress with our platform partners. This person would interact closely with our Data Science and Machine Learning teams to ensure system compatibility and maximum support of our products.

We are evolving toward:

• Event-driven system design
• Container deployments to customer and partner infrastructure
• Reduced architectural rigidity
• Strong internal platform standards

What 'Senior' Means at Chalice

The Senior Software Engineer role is a strong developer with extensive experience in building and deploying production-ready, scalable, and maintainable systems. In addition to this strong base, a Senior Software Engineer is a resource for junior developers to support their projects and aid in their skill development.

You will:

• Develop secure and scalable APIs for internal and external use
• Build portable, packaged code that is compatible with internal and external systems
• Implement CI/CD and testing automation
• Reduce systemic complexity
• Introduce durable patterns
• Identify architectural risk early
• Define reliability standards across teams

Mission

As Senior Software Engineer, you are an individual contributor who can break down complex problems and deliver reliable code according to product timelines. In addition to the engineering team, you will work closely with the Product, Machine Learning, and SRE teams to inform platform decisions. You will have significant ownership of foundational platform code to support the migration to an API and Event Driven platform.

In addition to building systems, you will mentor and elevate other engineers in infrastructure best practices, operational rigor, and architectural thinking. You will help establish a culture of reliability, ownership, and continuous improvement across the organization.

You will help implement a scalable, event-driven, multi-tenant platform that supports:

• Containerized product delivery to external customers
• Internal event-driven services across AWS
• Centralized state store driven orchestration
• Governance across adtech integrations and third-party APIs

What You'll Do

Platform Development

• Build out integrations with partners
• Implement APIs that expose platform functionality in a secure manner
• Develop routes and pipelines which run within an event-based backend system
• Emphasize portable coding practices and decoupled systems
• Package reusable code for easy distribution

System Observability and Reliability

• Enforce proper production development procedures using automated CI/CD tools like GitHub Actions
• Ensure that code failures are surfaced clearly and appropriate retry measures are taken
• Support the adoption of proper documentation and production code best practices

Support Junior Developers

• Act as a resource for junior developers to support early career development
• Lead by example in implementing production code best practices
• Provide mentorship and learning opportunities during projects

Identify and Mitigate Technical Debt

• Support efforts to reduce and automate tech debt
• Provide technical guidance in support of automation and process improvement proposals
• Suggest successful patterns for reducing tech debt

Ideal Background

• 8--10 years of experience building and operating production systems
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field --- or equivalent practical experience. Advanced degrees are welcome but not required.
• Deep production experience with APIs, event-based platform designs, multitenant architectures, microservices, AWS tools, and Docker
• Exposure to Databricks, including deploying jobs via Databricks Asset Bundles
• Exposure to event-driven architectures
• Experience improving testing and CI/CD practices for production workflows
• Adtech experience preferred but not required
• Experience with Kubernetes (EKS) preferred

Our Current Technology Environment

• Languages: Python, SQL, Rust, JavaScript
• Orchestration: Dagster, Databricks Workflows, SQS
• Data Platform: Databricks (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog), Snowflake, AWS (S3, EC2, Lambda, DBT, DLT)
• Containerization: Docker
• Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog
• CI/CD Tools: GitHub Actions
• We are actively evolving toward containerization, event-driven design, and API-first integrations

What We're Looking For

We want someone who:

• Has built scalable backend systems from scratch
• Has configured and worked extensively with AWS services
• Has migrated or refactored outdated infrastructure
• Has resolved production job failures
• Has worked extensively with containerized solutions

Anticipated Interview Process

1. Conversational: A live discussion focused on past systems, tradeoffs, and a collaborative diagramming/troubleshooting exercise.

2. Take Home GitHub Exercise: A practical exercise evaluating how you think about structure, testing, reproducibility, and clarity.

3. Engineering Deep Dive: Technical and strategic discussion around platform development and technical skills.

4. CTO Conversation: Focused on technical alignment.

5. CEO Conversation: Focused on company alignment.

Why Chalice?

Joining Chalice means being at the forefront of AI for advertising, working in a dynamic environment that encourages creativity, growth, and innovation. We value diversity, collaboration, and dedication to making a meaningful impact in the advertising landscape.

Chalice is a profitable early-stage company with funding from industry insiders including Trade Desk's TD7 Ventures and Aperiam Ventures. Our clients range from Fortune 100 companies and the world's largest advertising agencies to up-and-coming brands and independent agencies across the globe.

Our Philosophy

• AI is too important for brands to outsource
• AI should be transparent and auditable
• We strive for excellence while fostering learning and creating a supportive work environment
• We are a team of non-conformist, independent thinkers
• We are committed to diversity of thought, background, and experience, and creating psychological safety for all to thrive

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401(k) options
• Unlimited PTO
• 11 Company Holidays
• Office-wide closure between Christmas Eve and New Year's

Chalice participates in E-Verify. Chalice will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. For more information, visit https://www.uscis.gov/e-verify*.*