Senior Software Engineer, Back-End (San Francisco)

About the role

The Senior Software Engineer, Backend at Short Story will design and build backend services that power core business workflows, including order processing, logistics, and internal operations. They will own projects end-to-end, making decisions about data models, APIs, and system behavior. This role involves working closely with product, frontend, and operations teams to ensure reliability, scalability, and effective problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services that power core business workflows
• Own projects end-to-end, from early design through production and iteration
• Design APIs and data models that are clear, stable, and easy to work with
• Work across systems (orders, inventory, logistics, data) to solve complex, interconnected problems
• Make thoughtful tradeoffs between speed, scalability, and maintainability
• Improve system reliability through monitoring, testing, and debugging
• Contribute to engineering standards, code reviews, and documentation

Requirements

• 5+ years of software development experience, 2+ years of Python experience
• 5+ years of experience with data structures and algorithms
• Familiar with infrastructure, monitoring, and CI/CD practices
• Familiar with Python web frameworks, testing frameworks, containerized workloads (Docker), relational databases (Postgres preferred), and SQL
• Experience designing stable, scalable, and well-documented APIs

Preferred qualifications

• Test-driven development (TDD) experience
• Tech Lead for an engineering team of 3+
• Proven track record running large-scale distributed systems
• Worked in sprint-based environments

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain backend services that power core business workflows
• Own projects end-to-end, from early design through production and iteration
• Design APIs and data models that are clear, stable, and easy to work with
• Work across systems (orders, inventory, logistics, data) to solve complex, interconnected problems
• Make thoughtful tradeoffs between speed, scalability, and maintainability
• Improve system reliability through monitoring, testing, and debugging
• Contribute to engineering standards, code reviews, and documentation

Must Haves

• 5+ years of software development experience, 2+ years of Python experience
• 5+ years of experience with data structures and algorithms
• Familiar with infrastructure, monitoring, and CI/CD practices
• Familiar with Python web frameworks, testing frameworks, containerized workloads (Docker), relational databases (Postgres preferred), and SQL
• Experience designing stable, scalable, and well-documented APIs

Compensation & Benefits

• Generous Paid Time Off
• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental care
• 401k with company match (US)
• Employee discount on merchandise
• Opportunity to work at a Y-Combinator backed startup with a dedicated and experienced founding team

Why You'll Love Working at Short Story

• You'll get to work at an early stage start-up, to build the culture, and to have an outsized impact on our company
• You'll get the opportunity to try your hand at new things; we deeply believe in giving people opportunity to venture into new areas
• We are a successful, fast-growing startup solving problems that have not been solved before and reinventing fashion for an underserved segment
• We are a group of smart, passionate hackers with a wealth of diverse experiences
• We are motivated by unique challenges and opportunities
• We are driven by the mission of helping petite women find their perfect fit so they can dress with total confidence

Career Development

• Short Story is committed to providing equal employment opportunity and a work environment free of discrimination and harassment for all employees and applicants.
• We work diligently to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.

Compensation Range

$150K - $200K