Senior Backend Engineer - Podcast

Spotify • Full-time • New York, NY • 2w ago

The Mission Control team within Spotify’s Podcast Platform Product Area builds the core infrastructure that powers how podcasts are processed, uploaded, transformed, and distributed to the Spotify app. Our systems handle millions of episodes and creators, ensuring every piece of podcast content makes its way seamlessly to listeners worldwide.

We’re a unique platform team that operates at both a low level, supporting non-platform teams within the Podcast Mission, while also building user-facing capabilities of our own and collaborating directly with our partners’ engineering teams. Engineers on this team get exposed to a wide range of challenges and technologies — from platform infrastructure to creator-facing tools — making it an incredible place to learn and grow.

We build high-impact systems that serve both hosted and non-hosted creators. For example, we’re developing new features that make it easier for creators to manage and monetize their content. You’ll also contribute to unification efforts that bring together Spotify’s various podcast acquisitions into a single cohesive platform, combining the best features from each acquisition and tech stack.

What You’ll Do

Design and build reliable backend services that scale across millions of creators and episodes, enabling seamless podcast ingestion into Spotify.
Drive technical discussions, propose new ideas, and help shape the future of podcast infrastructure.
Collaborate closely with engineers, product managers, and multi-functional partners across the Podcast Mission.
Participate in on-call and goalie rotations to maintain system health and reliability.

Who You Are

You have strong backend (4+ years) experience and a proven understanding of platform or distributed systems; full-stack experience would be advantageous.
You’re experienced in Java; familiarity with JavaScript or Rails is a plus.
You have hands-on experience with cloud platforms like GCP and AWS, and relational databases like MySQL.
You’re highly adaptable and can quickly pick up new technologies, moving confidently across different systems and tech stacks.
You’re comfortable using AI tools like Cursor and Claude to learn new technologies, speed up development, and problem-solve.
You thrive in a fast-moving environment, handle change with ease, and communicate clearly with both teammates and partner engineering teams.

Where You’ll Be

We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! For this role, you can be within the North Americas region as long as we have a work location.
This team operates within the Eastern or Pacific Standard time zone for collaboration.

The United States base range for this position is $160,091 - $228,702 plus equity. The benefits available for this position include health insurance, six month paid parental leave, 401(k) retirement plan, monthly meal allowance, 23 paid days off, 13 paid flexible holidays, paid sick leave. This range encompasses multiple levels. Leveling is determined during the interview process. Placement in a level depends on relevant work history and interview performance. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens.

At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.

Spotify transformed music listening forever when we launched in 2008. Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the chance to enjoy and be passionate about these creators. Everything we do is driven by our love for music and podcasting. Today, we are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service.