Staff Backend Engineer

Join the Rest Revolution The world is wired and tired. It's plagued by screens, notifications, and the sense that you should always be doing ... something. But hey, you're reading this job application right now, so you probably know exactly what we're talking about. So here's a bit of good news amidst all the noise: Hatch is a sleep wellness company that's betting on rest in a culture obsessed with optimization. While most technology is designed to keep you engaged, our devices use the science of habit formation to help people unplug, unwind, and recharge. Through genuinely enjoyable routines, habit building, and gentle guidance (no sleep scores or wearables here), we help people build healthier sleep habits and feel the difference in everyday life. Ten years ago, we started with a mission to help parents navigate the complexities of newborn sleep. Today, we're helping more than 5 million people (and counting) take care of themselves and the people they love through the power of rest. We’re open to candidates across the U.S. and Canada. However, please note that Hatch is based in California, so we just ask that you're available during PST/PDT hours. The Role: How You'll Make an Impact Team: Backend Engineering | Reports to: Director, Backend & DevOps | Location: Remote-friendly (US/Canada, PST hours) You'll own the architecture, delivery, and reliability of the backend behind Hatch's mobile apps and IoT devices. That means Java and Python REST APIs, AWS IoT, Lambda, and the monitoring, alerting, and DevOps practices that keep millions of devices humming in real homes. You’re a great fit if you thrive in environments of rapid learning and delivery. You’re self-motivated and have demonstrated strong ownership and self-direction. You strive to understand the business of what we are trying to accomplish and push engineering solutions to provide customer value. As a small team where AI-assisted development is core to how we work, we expect this senior role to ramp up quickly, use AI fluently in their day-to-day, and deliver broadly across our backend systems. Working across Mobile, Embedded, and Product, you'll lead system design, set technical direction, and mentor engineers. It's a uniquely end-to-end role—cloud APIs on one side, physical devices on the other. What You'll Do First 90 Days: Learn & Contribute Dig into our backend architecture and tools through both team walkthroughs and your own deep exploration, and come back with clear observations Learn what drives the business and bring sharp judgement to what we prioritize Own and ship a high-impact backend project end-to-end in our Spring Boot + Hibernate stack, using AI fluently to accelerate delivery Proactively engage in and contribute to architecture conversations and cross-team design Build strong working relationships with peers across Mobile, Embedded, and Product First 6 Months: Drive Real Impact Thoroughly understand the end-to-end flow of the entire backend architecture and the interactions with the app and device firmware Propose and lead architecture or refactor projects that improve system scalability and reliability. Self-identify and drive the resolution of troubleshooting issues. Own a core area like IoT device communication, registration/auth flows, device routine scheduling, or backend support for mobile app features Improve observability using Graphite, ELK, or other internal monitoring tools Mentor teammates and model pragmatic, high-quality engineering decisions First Year: Transform & Scale Lead the design and rollout of new backend systems or large-scale refactors Own and drive backend improvements that elevate reliability, scalability, and developer experience Build reusable libraries, templates, and patterns that increase engineering consistency What You'll Bring The Essentials 8+ years of experience in backend engineering, with deep expertise in Java (11+) and Spring Boot. Familiarity and experience with Groovy. Experience with Python backend servi…