Junior Cloud Backend Engineer

Description

Reports to: Principle Software Architect

Location: Huntsville, AL

Travel: Minimal travel required

Work Authorization: Must be authorized to work in the U.S. **Sponsorship is not available at this time** 

Exemption Status: exempt 

Job Description

This position will give you the opportunity to:

• Engineer the core backend platform, including the API tier, telemetry ingestion pipeline, and supporting cloud services
• Modernize a legacy PHP application by migrating services incrementally to a serverless architecture using safe, low-risk deployment strategies
• Read, understand, and improve existing production systems while ensuring uninterrupted service for customers
• Design and build highly reliable APIs, backend services, and scalable data ingestion pipelines
• Rebuild sensor-data ingestion using durable, replayable streaming architectures to improve reliability and disaster recovery
• Develop characterization tests and leverage record-and-replay validation techniques to ensure migration accuracy before production deployment
• Contribute to Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and observability to improve platform reliability and operational excellence
• Participate in the team's on-call rotation and troubleshoot production systems you own
• Leverage AI-assisted development, testing, and code review to improve engineering productivity and software quality
• Partner closely with platform, frontend, AI, and firmware engineering teams to deliver cohesive, scalable solutions
• Carry out additional responsibilities as needed to support business objectives

Requirements

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience
• Foundational knowledge of backend software development through internships, co-ops, coursework, or personal projects
• Familiarity with cloud technologies, preferably AWS services such as Lambda, API Gateway, SQS, Kinesis, RDS, or DynamoDB
• Ability and willingness to learn, maintain, and help modernize existing PHP applications
• Understanding of API design, distributed systems, asynchronous processing, and event-driven architecture concepts
• Exposure to data ingestion pipelines, queues, streams, or serverless technologies
• Strong software testing mindset with familiarity with unit, integration, or regression testing
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code and modern CI/CD practices
• Experience using AI-assisted software development tools to support coding, testing, or problem-solving
• Strong communication, collaboration, and analytical skills
• Eagerness to learn new technologies, receive feedback, and contribute within a collaborative

Preferred Qualifications:

• Internship, co-op, academic, or personal project experience involving IoT, telemetry, or data-intensive applications
• Exposure to messaging or streaming technologies such as SQS, Kafka, Kinesis, RabbitMQ, or MQTT
• Experience with one or more backend languages, such as Python, Node.js, Go, or PHP
• Familiarity with databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, DynamoDB, Redis, or TimescaleDB
• Basic understanding of cloud security, data privacy, or compliance frameworks such as SOC 2
• Exposure to observability, monitoring, or logging tools
• A portfolio, GitHub profile, or examples of relevant academic or personal projects

What Success Looks Like: 

• Legacy APIs and services are successfully migrated to modern serverless architectures with no customer-visible disruption
• Data ingestion pipelines operate reliably under heavy production workloads without silent data loss
• Production migrations are validated through comprehensive testing before deployment
• Systems are observable, well documented, and supported by multiple engineers rather than relying on tribal knowledge
• Engineering teams can confidently deploy and operate backend services with speed and reliability
• Security, reliability, and compliance are designed into systems from the beginning rather than added later

Culture Fit Requirements:

• High intellect and strong analytical skills
• Innovative and driven to constantly improve
• Non-bureaucratic, flexible, and able to thrive in a fast-moving environment
• Positive energy and attitude towards people and problem-solving 
• Demonstrates a balance of humility, strong work ethic, and interpersonal savvy ("Humble, Hungry, and Smart") in approach to teamwork and problem-solving.  
• A genuine human.
• Demonstrates a “Can Do” mentality. 

Why Waites? 

At Waites, we offer an attractive base salary with a strong history of profit sharing. We are intensely customer-focused, with a culture that encourages hard work, fun, and mutual success. As we continue to grow, there will be many opportunities for professional advancement and development. If you are a talented Cloud Engineer professional looking for an exciting new challenge, please apply!

Learn more about who we are and what we do by checking out our website at www.waites.net.

WST is an Equal Opportunity Employer.