The Senior Backend Engineer will own and evolve experimentation services, design APIs, integrate AI workflows, maintain reliability, and collaborate across teams to enhance automation and scalability in backend systems.
The Personalization team makes deciding what to play next easier and more enjoyable for every listener. From Blend to Discover Weekly, we're behind some of Spotify's most-loved features. We built them by understanding the world of music and podcasts better than anyone else. Join us and you'll keep millions of users listening by making great recommendations to each and every one of them.
The Experimentation and Learning team (SEAL) sits within the Surfaces Foundation product area in the Personalization mission. This team builds the experimentation and learning infrastructure for Spotify Surfaces — powering how we test, evaluate, and ship personalized experiences across Home and beyond. By creating a unified, agent-driven experimentation ecosystem, we enable teams to go from a raw hypothesis to a fully configured, running experiment in minutes instead of days.
What You'll Do
- Own and evolve the core experimentation service, building agentic workflows that automate experiment setup, configuration, and validation across multiple backend systems
- Design and maintain API-first orchestration layers that coordinate across experimentation and content delivery systems
- Build and integrate LLM-driven workflows into robust, production-ready infrastructure, including planner, generator, and validator architectural patterns
- Define and uphold SLOs and SLAs for experimentation infrastructure, contributing to a strong culture of reliability and operational excellence
- Partner closely with content, feature, and platform teams to scale automated experimentation patterns across a growing range of surfaces and configurations
- Identify, diagnose, and resolve bottlenecks in experiment orchestration to ensure fast and reliable workflows
- Collaborate across squads to continuously improve how experimentation and evaluation are delivered across Spotify Surfaces
- Contribute to architectural decisions that improve system scalability, observability, and maintainability
Who You Are
- You have experience building and operating large-scale backend systems serving high-traffic user experiences
- You’re comfortable using AI-assisted tools to develop high quality software.
- You are experienced with distributed systems, APIs, and service-oriented architecture
- You know how to design systems with performance, scalability, and reliability in mind
- You are a product-minded engineer who thrives at the intersection of infrastructure, AI, and experimentation
- Experience translating conceptual architectures into scalable, production-ready code
- Comfortable working across multiple teams and collaborating with cross-functional partners
- You care about creating maintainable systems that enable fast iteration and experimentation
- Motivated by turning fragmented, manual processes into elegant, automated workflows
- Experience defining and working with SLOs, SLAs, and observability tooling
- Experience with LLMs, agent frameworks, or A/B testing infrastructure is a bonus
Where You'll Be
- We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! For this role, you can be within the North America region as long as we have a work location.
- This team operates within the Eastern Standard time zone for collaboration.
The United States base range for this position is $165,000 - $235,000 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.
Similar Jobs
Machine Learning • Payments • Security • Software • Financial Services
The Software Engineer Sr leads UI design and development, optimizing scalable applications, mentoring staff, and ensuring compliance with standards while collaborating with teams.
Top Skills:
AngularAWSAzureCi/CdCSS3CypressGitHTML5JasmineJavaScriptJestJSONPlaywrightReactRest ApisScssTypescriptVue
Machine Learning • Payments • Security • Software • Financial Services
The Principal Software Engineer leads software solution development, directs the software engineering life cycle, and guides architecture for PNC's Tempus Technologies. Responsibilities include automation, security oversight, and collaboration across teams to enhance systems and product offerings.
Top Skills:
AzureC#DelphiJavaJavaScriptTypescript
HR Tech • Information Technology • Professional Services • Sales • Software
Manage mid-market accounts to improve adoption and usage, serve as a trusted advisor, protect revenue streams, and meet retention KPIs through effective strategies and communication.
Top Skills:
AsanaChurnzeroSalesforceWeb-Based Technologies
What you need to know about the Colorado Tech Scene
With a business-friendly climate and research universities like CU Boulder and Colorado State, Colorado has made a name for itself as a startup ecosystem. The state boasts a skilled workforce and high quality of life thanks to its affordable housing, vibrant cultural scene and unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation. Colorado is also home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, helping cement its status as a hub for renewable energy innovation.
Key Facts About Colorado Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 260,000; 8.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lockheed Martin, Century Link, Comcast, BAE Systems, Level 3
- Key Industries: Software, artificial intelligence, aerospace, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech
- Funding Landscape: $4.9 billion in VC funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Access Venture Partners, Ridgeline Ventures, Techstars, Blackhorn Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Mesa Laboratory, Space Science Institute, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Gottlieb Institute
