Senior Backend Engineer

ACPWB was founded in Milwaukee in 2006 with a simple mandate: help working Americans understand and advocate for the compensation they deserve. Eighteen years later, that mandate has grown into a full-service research and advisory practice serving clients from early-stage employers to Fortune 50 enterprises—and we are still based in Milwaukee, because Milwaukee is genuinely underrated.

About the role

The Senior Backend Engineer will be a key contributor to ACPWB's Security & Compliance practice, working on internal systems performance and security that directly supports our compensation advisory work. This role requires someone who can own internal systems performance and security without waiting to be told what needs to be done. The internal data pipeline and ETL infrastructure is critical infrastructure, and the people who depend on it—our analysts, our clients, our firm—need it to work.

You will use Terraform and AWS on Azure and on-premise hybrid environment to build and maintain systems that meet that standard. The Security & Compliance team of 6 builds and maintains the internal data pipeline and ETL infrastructure that powers our advisory practice, and this role is central to ensuring that infrastructure is reliable, secure, and scalable.

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain backup, recovery, and disaster preparedness procedures for the internal data pipeline and ETL infrastructure
• Contribute to code reviews, technical documentation, and engineering standards for the Security & Compliance team
• Design and enforce access controls, authentication policies, and data security protocols
• Develop and maintain BI dashboards and analytical reports for internal stakeholders using Terraform and AWS
• Develop APIs and integrations connecting the internal data pipeline and ETL infrastructure with third-party data sources and internal tools

Qualifications

Required

• Understanding of networking fundamentals including DNS, TCP/IP, firewalls, and VPN
• Familiarity with information security fundamentals including authentication, encryption, and access control
• Ability to prioritize technical work based on business impact and operational risk
• Experience with version control (Git), code review practices, and CI/CD pipelines
• Experience with monitoring, alerting, and observability tooling for production systems

Preferred

• Experience building internal developer tooling or productivity infrastructure
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Familiarity with compliance requirements such as SOC 2, GDPR, or CCPA as they apply to data systems
• Prior experience in a professional services or advisory firm technology environment
• Familiarity with API design and RESTful service development

What Success Looks Like In Year One

• Receive positive feedback from a non-technical stakeholder on the reliability or usability of a system you own
• Complete a successful deployment to production with no unplanned rollbacks or escalations
• Reduce at least one identified pain point for the analytical team through tooling or infrastructure improvement
• Build familiarity with ACPWB's business context to make better technical prioritization decisions
• Support at least one cross-functional project where your technical work enables an advisory deliverable

Interview Process

We begin with a brief application review, followed by a 30-minute phone screen. Qualified candidates proceed to a 90-minute interview with the hiring manager and a peer. Final candidates are invited to Milwaukee for a half-day that includes a panel interview, a case discussion, and lunch with the team.