Senior Backend Application Engineer

About Manifest

Manifest is on a mission to secure the global software and AI supply chain. Our platform automates the discovery and analysis of risks across internally built and third-party software and AI systems, giving security, product, and engineering teams complete visibility into the components and dependencies that make up their technology stack. From product security and AI risk to supplier risk and compliance, we help teams trust the software and AI they build and buy.

Founded by alumni from the Department of Defense, CISA, and Palantir, Manifest is backed by leading investors including Ensemble VC, First Round Capital, Homebrew, BoxGroup, XYZ Venture Capital, AE Ventures, Leap435, and Overmatch VC. The company partners with the US Air Force, DHS, Global 2000 companies, and critical infrastructure organizations across defense, automotive, and financial services to bring transparency, resilience, and trust to modern digital systems.

About the Role

Manifest is hiring a highly qualified, Senior+ backend software engineer responsible for designing and scaling new and existing web services and ETL architecture to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. This role will drive high-performance, resilient system designs in a fast-paced, data-intensive environment.
The impact you will have:

• Architect and build robust, fault-tolerant web and ETL services that scale to high throughput.
• Act as a key communicator, bridging gaps between teams, clarifying technical concepts, and ensuring alignment across projects.
• Identify and implement improvements in system performance and processes, ensuring the company remains competitive in a fast-paced market.
• Design and build new features for the Manifest platform to be used by critical organizations around the world.

As a Senior Backend Engineer - Product & Platform:

• Architect and implement scalable web services and ETL pipelines
• Design high-performance systems that efficiently handle 10K's+ transactions/sec
• Collaborate with engineering teams to optimize existing systems and integrate new technologies
• Develop robust monitoring, testing, and deployment strategies for mission-critical services
• Define and maintain the high standards of our engineering culture. As a part of a high performing engineering team, you’ll help recruit and onboard your colleagues
• Work closely with product management, designers, and other engineers
• Resolve issues together quickly and collaboratively
• Communicate internally and externally on what we’re building and why it’s special

As an experienced Backend Engineer you bring the following skills and experience to the team:

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on web services and ETL systems
• Proven track record scaling high-volume, data-intensive systems
• Expertise in distributed systems, microservices, and cloud architectures
• Familiarity with containerization, orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines
• High proficiency in our primary stack (TypeScript, Mongo, Go, Python) is not strictly required, but you should be familiar enough to be able to quickly spin up on languages applicable to your role.
• Previous experience with commercial software products (SaaS and on-prem) that support 3rd party/external customers.
• Experience working in early-stage technology (B2B SaaS) startups
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment

Bonus but not required:

• Strong experience with MongoDB in particular and other data stores as well
• Experience with or general familiarity with AI/ML, LLMs, & model tuning
• Background or experience in infosec, red teaming, or broader cybersecurity concepts
• Experience with other FOSS and Commercial SDLC security and DevSecOps tooling, including SCA, DAST, SAST, etc.

The benefits of working at Manifest include:

Salary: $150,000 – $210,000/year + meaningful stock options. Placement within the range depends on experience and skills.

• 🔍 Help organizations get newfound visibility into their software and be more secure!
• 🌎 Fully remote work (with potential for hybrid co-working)
• 🌴 Unlimited PTO (which we take seriously)
• 🏥 Medical/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your dependents is paid at 100%!
• 💵 Competitive salary & meaningful stock options
• 🏦 401(k) and retirement options
• ⚒️ Help get in at the ground floor of a well-funded, early-stage startup!
• 🦄 Additional benefits to come (retirement, holiday gifts, etc.)