Senior Backend Engineer
DuckDuckGo
About this role
## Senior Backend Engineer ### Who We Are Hi, we’re **DuckDuckGo**—an online protection company and a **remote-first** team of **400+** on a mission to raise the standard of trust online. Founded in **2008** and profitable since **2014**, we serve millions of users across **Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android** with our browser, search engine, and **DuckDuckGo subscription**. We also offer private, useful, and optional AI (including **Duck.ai**), and we build with a culture of **trust, inclusivity, and empowered project management**—where each team member owns their projects end-to-end. ### Your Team and Role You’ll join the **Backend Functional Team**, leading complex projects across key company-wide objectives. You’ll use **Perl (v5)**, **Go**, and **Node.js** to build **pragmatic, performant, testable** backend systems and work on related initiatives. **Recent projects include:** - Implementing **AI-assisted answers** and integrating them into our **Search** product while maintaining our **privacy-first** approach - Delivering improvements to **Duck.ai** to strengthen it as a competitive AI chat alternative for free and paying users - Implementing **sophisticated data processing pipelines** that maintain **search relevancy** As a **Senior Backend Engineer**, you’ll collaborate remotely, take responsibility for solving product issues impacting our all-in-one privacy solution, and—over time—**formally mentor** other engineers. ### About You - **7+ years** of professional experience, primarily in backend systems powering consumer-facing products - Strong product acumen to reason about technical tradeoffs in terms of **user impact** - Familiarity with **AI agent tooling** (e.g., evaluation frameworks, **RAG pipelines**, prompt engineering) - A fundamental understanding of **complex data structures and algorithms**; ability to develop and apply new solutions and improve existing code - **Data-driven analytical** skills for decision-making, stakeholder alignment, and experiment-oriented delivery - Excellent **written and verbal communication** - Previous experience **leading and mentoring** experienced engineers ### Compensation Paid on a **regional pay scale** (local currency) with **stock options**: - **United States:** $190,500 USD annually - **United Kingdom:** £134,600 GBP annually - **Canada:** C$253,500 CAD annually - **Europe / Rest of World:** €157,350 EUR annually In **Spain**, pay is expected to transition to the EUR scale on **Jan 1, 2027**; in other **Europe/Rest of World** countries on **Feb 1, 2027**. Health benefits eligibility for company-sponsored coverage is limited to team members based in the **United States**. ### Hiring Process (Highlights) - Hiring is designed to be a **two-way street**—you’ll learn about DuckDuckGo and how we hire. - You’ll be expected to attend meetings **on camera** via video conferencing. - Expect to travel **at least 2 times/year** (all-hands meetup and a team retreat; ~4–5 days each). - Flexible work arrangement with **no core hours**, with an average full-time commitment of **~40 hours/week**. - A **background check** is required as a condition of joining. ### Diversity, Equity & Inclusion DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. The hiring process is designed to be accessible; if you need a reasonable accommodation, email **careers@duckduckgo.com**. ### AI in the Hiring Process DuckDuckGo uses AI to assist with reviewing an
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