SDE 3

As a Senior Software Development Engineer (SDE 3) at Porter, you will be instrumental in building and owning large, business-critical systems that operate at scale. This role demands more than just coding; it requires designing scalable architectures, making informed trade-offs, influencing engineering standards, and mentoring fellow engineers, all while collaborating closely with product and business stakeholders. You are expected to approach challenges from first principles, responsibly leverage AI, and develop reliable, observable, and cost-aware systems.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical and System Design:

• Design, develop, and own highly available, scalable distributed systems capable of handling millions of transactions.
• Lead both low-level and high-level design, encompassing APIs, data models, and service architectures.
• Conduct capacity planning, perform estimations, and proactively identify system bottlenecks.
• Champion engineering excellence in reliability, observability, security, and cost optimization.

Coding and Execution:

• Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested production-grade code adhering to SOLID principles and robust engineering practices.
• Utilize AI tools to enhance development speed, critically evaluating outputs and discerning appropriate use cases for AI.

Ownership and Delivery:

• Take full ownership of systems from initial design through production deployment and ongoing maintenance.
• Lead projects autonomously, navigate ambiguity, and deliver effectively under demanding timelines.
• Actively participate in operational reviews, incident management, and continuous system improvement initiatives.

Collaboration and Leadership:

• Foster close collaboration with product, data, and business teams to align technical decisions with logistics realities.
• Mentor junior engineers, elevate code quality, and contribute to a high-performing engineering culture.
• Engage in hiring processes, technical interviews, and team-building activities.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 4 years of professional software development experience, preferably in an SDE 3 or equivalent capacity.
• Demonstrated success in owning and scaling production systems.
• Experience in fast-paced, high-ownership environments, such as startups or scale-ups, is highly valued.

Technical Proficiency:

• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented design.
• Proven hands-on experience with system design for large-scale applications.
• Familiarity with modern backend technologies, distributed systems, and cloud environments.
• Deep knowledge of engineering operations, including monitoring, alerting, reliability, and performance tuning.

AI and First-Principles Thinking:

• Ability to effectively use AI as a productivity enhancer without over-reliance.
• Strong critical thinking and judgment to validate AI-generated solutions and think independently.
• Proficiency in breaking down complex problems to their fundamental components.

Leadership and Mindset:

• A strong sense of ownership and accountability ('Own It').
• User-centric approach with a clear understanding of business impact ('User Obsession').
• Proactive and decisive in ambiguous situations ('Keep Moving').
• Collaborative, empathetic, and resilient under pressure.
• A drive to elevate standards in talent, quality, and execution.