Backend Reliability / Production Operations Engineer

job summary:

You have experience operating distributed, high-volume backend services in production, and you know how to deploy them and keep them running

You are comfortable triaging incidents on systems you did not build, using runbooks, dashboards and logs

You have hands-on experience with Java and/or Python backend services, Kubernetes, and a major cloud provider (Google Cloud Platform preferred)

You have experience with monitoring and alerting tools such as PagerDuty, Grafana and PromethePromQL

You write clear documentation and enjoy leaving systems better than you found them

You are comfortable using AI coding tools to speed up maintenance and migration work

You communicate clearly and work well asynchronously with distributed teams

location: Telecommute
job type: Contract
salary: $80 - 87 per hour
work hours: 8am to 5pm
education: Bachelors
responsibilities:

The Personalization (PZN) team makes deciding what to play next on Spotify easier and more enjoyable for every listener. We seek to understand the world of music, podcasts and audiobooks better than anyone else so that we can make great recommendations to every individual and keep the world listening. Every day, hundreds of millions of people all over the world use the products we build which include destinations like Home and Search as well as original playlists such as Made For You, Discover Weekly and Daily Mix.

The SeshGen product area builds and runs the systems behind Spotify's generative and interactive listening experiences, including AI DJ, AI Playlist and personalized sessions. SeshGen owns over 1,000 backend services, and many of them are stable and in maintenance mode. We are building a dedicated contractor team to own the operation and maintenance of these services, so our product squads can focus on new features.

What You'll Do

• Be part of the SeshGen goalie rotation for maintenance-mode services: respond to and triage PagerDuty alerts, apply fixes (restarts, rollbacks, scaling) and escalate to the owning squad when needed
• Keep services up to date: dependency updates and security patches on a quarterly cycle, and infrastructure upgrades such as Kubernetes version bumps and Google Cloud Platform migrations
• Reduce alert noise: tune thresholds, fix auto-resolving alerts, set up alert grouping, and turn off alerts that are not actionable
• Identify unused services and decommission them safely using Backstage tooling
• Write and maintain runbooks and service documentation for every service in scope
• Keep the service catalog accurate: component ownership, reliability tiers and PagerDuty routing
• Work closely with SeshGen engineers and engineering managers through handovers, rotation chapter meetings and alert reviews
• Reduce tech debt and complexity if needed

Who You Are

• You have experience operating distributed, high-volume backend services in production, and you know how to deploy them and keep them running
• You are comfortable triaging incidents on systems you did not build, using runbooks, dashboards and logs
• You have hands-on experience with Java and/or Python backend services, Kubernetes, and a major cloud provider (Google Cloud Platform preferred)
• You have experience with monitoring and alerting tools such as PagerDuty, Grafana and PromethePromQL
• You write clear documentation and enjoy leaving systems better than you found them
• You are comfortable using AI coding tools to speed up maintenance and migration work
• You communicate clearly and work well asynchronously with distributed teams

qualifications:

Hard Skills - Senior-level Java backend development, Operating and maintaining distributed, high-volume production systems and Scaling systems and removing technical debt.

Soft Skills - Strong written and verbal communication, Effective prioritization skills and Cross-team collaboration and alignment

skills:

AI coding tools,AI,backend services,Python backend,Grafana,Java,Kubernetes,alerting tools,PagerDuty,Prometheus,runbooks,tech debt,reliability,dashboards,decommission,infrastructure upgrades,service documentation,maintenance,Personalization,playlists,Playlist,communicate clearly,service catalog,triage,clear documentation

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.
At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact
Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).
This posting is open for thirty (30) days.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.