Senior Backend Engineer (+ Equity) at Caplight

Role Overview

Caplight is building the Bloomberg Terminal of the private markets. We bring pricing, liquidity signals, and company data together so private-markets investors—VCs, secondary funds, and asset managers—can track, analyze, and source opportunities with clarity. Our platform surfaces real-time intelligence across thousands of private companies, and our marketplace connects investors and brokers to engage in private stock transactions. Caplight gives professionals a clear view of valuation and market activity in an otherwise opaque space. We’re building the data and execution infrastructure that modern VC investing runs on.

What You Will Do

• Design and own core backend systems and APIs that ingest, structure, and enrich fragmented data using LLM-powered pipelines.
• Build and maintain an MCP server to enable institutional clients to interact with private market data through AI-native workflows.
• Collaborate with the CTO on system design, evolving the architecture toward modular services that support institutional-grade speed and reliability.

Who This Is A Fit For

• 4+ years of backend-focused experience, ideally at an early-stage startup, with deep proficiency in TypeScript or typed functional languages like Rust or Haskell.
• Proven track record of shipping production-grade systems and contributing to high-level architectural decisions rather than just implementing feature specs.
• Local to the San Francisco Bay Area and excited to work in a high-velocity, in-person environment at least 3 days per week.

Why This Role Is Remarkable

• Build the “Bloomberg Terminal for private markets” for a cash-flow positive startup already handling billions in live order volume for top-tier institutional investors.
• High-ownership role working directly with the CTO to evolve a modular, event-driven architecture using modern AI tooling and advanced data pipelines.
• Join a fast-moving, 15-person team in San Francisco where your technical decisions will directly shape the execution infrastructure modern VC investing runs on.