Staff Engineer - Backend

Role details

ABOUT QUINCE Quince is a destination for builders, creators, innovators, and operators who want to come together and challenge the status quo. Our mission is simple: make really high quality essentials for really low prices, fairly and sustainably. We deliver on that mission through a unique manufacturer-to-consumer (M2C) model eliminating the layers of traditional retail that add cost and result in consumers paying more than they need to. We find, build relationships with, and work directly with the manufacturing partners behind some of the world’s finest products. From there, our teams design smart, efficient operational processes and build and deploy proprietary technology, AI, and analytics to help us scale fast. What began with a small assortment of elevated basics has quickly grown into a cross-category brand spanning apparel, accessories, home goods, and more. Today, tens of millions of people across a growing number of countries come – and return – to Quince because they trust us to deliver. OUR CULTURE Quince is a culture built for builders by builders. Our way of working starts with a blank sheet of paper. We question conventional thinking, use technology and data to uncover new opportunities, and move quickly to turn ideas into reality. We aren’t interested in replicating how others do retail. We’re building a better way – at a speed and scale unlike anything that’s been done before. We dream big and chase the hard problems others shy away from. Rejecting long-held assumptions is part of our company's DNA. Where conventional wisdom says you have to choose – soft or durable, speed or rigor, quality or price – we ask why that trade-off has to exist in the first place. Our pace is fast and the bar is high because our customers expect a lot from us and we refuse to let them down. We believe the best results come from challenging ourselves, learning from one another, and building on each other's strengths. Here, responsibility is not determined by role, tenure, or seniority. Every team member - no matter their level - has the opportunity to drive our business and shape our trajectory. If you’re someone who likes to imagine new possibilities and build better systems rather than plug-in to outdated ones, Quince is the place for you. THE ROLE Staff Engineer (Backend) We’re looking for a Staff Engineer (Backend) to join our engineering organization. In this role, you will drive the architecture, scalability, and reliability of critical backend systems across multiple teams. You will operate at a strategic level, influencing technical direction, solving highly complex problems, and enabling teams to build robust, high-performing systems. Success in this role means defining long-term technical vision, improving engineering excellence across the organization, and mentoring senior engineers while driving large-scale impact. This position is critical to scaling our platform and supporting Quince’s mission of delivering exceptional quality at incredible value. Responsibilities: Own and evolve multiple critical applications/services, ensuring long-term scalability, reliability, and maintainability Lead the design and architecture of complex, large-scale distributed systems, frameworks, and platforms across teams Define and drive the roadmap for engineering and operational excellence at an organizational level Conduct deep performance analysis and lead system-wide optimizations to ensure high scalability and efficiency Drive technical planning, system design reviews, and estimation for large, cross-team initiatives Collaborate with product, data, and infrastructure stakeholders to define ambiguous requirements and translate them into scalable system designs Provide technical leadership and mentorship to senior and mid-level engineers across teams Establish and enforce best practices for coding standards, system design, observability, and reliability Review and guide critical architectural and code decisions across multiple teams Stay ahead of emerging technologies and introduce new architectural patterns to improve system capabilities Raise the engineering bar by actively contributing to hiring, team building, and technical culture Qualifications: Strong computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, and advanced system design 8+ years of experience working on backend and distributed systems Deep expertise in Java, Spring/Spring Boot, and SQL/NoSQL databases Proven experience designing and scaling highly reliable, large-scale distributed systems across multiple services/teams Strong understanding of concurrency, multithreading, and high-performance system design Deep knowledge of system architecture, design principles, and trade-off analysis at scale Experience driving organization-wide technical initiatives and architectural decisions Strong focus on code quality, latency optimization, observability, and system reliability Ability to operate effectively in highly ambiguous, fast-paced environments with significant ownership Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across technical and business teams Proven track record of mentoring senior engineers and influencing engineering culture Preferred: Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS preferred) Strong understanding of microservices, event-driven systems, and distributed system patterns Experience leading large-scale system migrations or platform transformations Familiarity with observability tools, monitoring systems, and SRE practices Experience in high-growth startups or scaling consumer internet platforms Passion for building platforms that enable teams to move faster with high reliability WHY QUINCE? Joining Quince means being part of a mission-driven team reshaping retail. You will work alongside talented colleagues, tackle meaningful challenges, and contribute to building a more sustainable, accessible future for customers and partners alike. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY & HIRING INTEGRITY Quince prov