Senior Software Engineer

Location: Sunnyvale, California
Work Arrangement: Hybrid
Contract Duration: 6 Months
Experience Required: 6+ Years
Employment Type: Contract

Job Summary

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer specializing in data layer automation, backend development, and CI/CD engineering. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with Rust, Node.js, TypeScript, GraphQL, and automated software delivery pipelines.

The role focuses on engineering reliable, high-performance deployment workflows for a federated GraphQL data layer powered by a Rust-based federation router and multiple backend subgraphs. The successful candidate will build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, develop production code, automate schema validation, and implement safe deployment strategies to improve developer productivity and production reliability.

Primary Skills (Must-Have)

• Rust Programming,
• Node.js,
• TypeScript,
• GraphQL APIs and Federation,
• CI/CD Pipeline Development and Automation
• Backend and Platform Engineering
• Cargo Workspaces and Rust Build Optimization
• Docker and Kubernetes
• Automated Testing and Performance Benchmarking
• Canary and Progressive Deployment Strategies

Secondary Skills (Preferred)

• GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, Buildkite, Tekton, or Argo,
• GraphQL Router and Subgraph Architecture,
• Schema Composition and Schema Registry Integration,
• GraphQL Breaking-Change Detection
• Rust Plugins and Coprocessors
• API Authentication and Caching
• Observability and Telemetry
• Service-Level Objectives (SLOs)
• Vulnerability Scanning and Dependency Management
• Artifact Signing and Build Provenance
• Blue-Green Deployment and Feature Flags
• Incident Response and Production Troubleshooting

Key Responsibilities

CI/CD and Release Automation

• Design, build, and maintain end-to-end CI/CD pipelines for a Rust-based GraphQL federation router.
• Automate Rust compilation, cross-platform builds, container image creation, testing, and progressive deployments.
• Optimize build performance through dependency caching, incremental builds, parallel execution, and reproducible build practices.
• Implement artifact signing, versioning, and build provenance controls.
• Develop automated quality gates for unit tests, integration tests, performance benchmarks, fuzz testing, and security scanning.

Rust and Node.js Development

• Write and maintain production Rust code for router plugins, coprocessors, authentication, caching, telemetry, and query governance.
• Develop Node.js and TypeScript services, command-line tools, test harnesses, and internal developer tooling.
• Improve the performance, reliability, and maintainability of backend platform components.
• Collaborate with the core router team to deliver production-ready enhancements.

GraphQL Schema Governance

• Build automated schema composition and validation workflows for federated GraphQL services.
• Implement breaking-change detection and operation compatibility checks.
• Integrate schema registry capabilities and gated publishing processes for subgraphs.
• Create reusable pipeline templates that help engineering teams test and deploy Node.js subgraphs safely.

Deployment Reliability and Observability

• Automate canary and staged rollouts using health checks and SLO-based promotion criteria.
• Implement fast rollback mechanisms and zero-downtime updates for configuration and application binaries.
• Monitor pipeline reliability, build duration, flaky-test rates, and time to production.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, platform, and security teams on environment provisioning, secrets management, and compliance.
• Support production incidents and continuously improve deployment safety and operational reliability.

Required Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Production experience developing software using Rust.
• Strong understanding of the Rust toolchain, including Cargo workspaces, features, cross-compilation, and build optimization.
• Strong Node.js and TypeScript development skills.
• Hands-on experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for production services.
• Experience with GraphQL APIs, schema design, resolvers, and schema evolution.
• Familiarity with GraphQL federation and distributed backend services.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and containerized deployments.
• Understanding of canary deployments, blue-green releases, feature flags, and rollback strategies.
• Experience with production observability, SLOs, and incident response.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with internal CI/CD platforms or tools such as GitHub Actions, Buildkite, Jenkins, GitLab CI, Tekton, or Argo.
• Experience developing GraphQL router extensions, plugins, or coprocessors.
• Knowledge of performance regression detection, fuzz testing, and security automation.
• Experience implementing schema registry integrations and automated GraphQL governance.
• Familiarity with artifact signing, software supply-chain security, and reproducible builds.