Senior Backend Engineer, Podcast

The Mission Control team within Spotify’s Podcast Platform Product Area builds the core infrastructure that powers how podcasts and other forms of creator content, including emerging and future formats, are processed and distributed across Spotify and beyond. As Spotify’s creator platform continues to grow, we’re expanding the systems that bring new types of content and experiences onto Spotify, while also exploring how we can help creators distribute their content more broadly across platforms and reach new audiences.

At the center of this evolution is our Distribution API, a platform that enables creators and partners to manage, distribute, and monetize their content on Spotify, regardless of where it’s hosted. The API is quickly becoming the backbone of how partners integrate with Spotify, and we’ve already onboarded some of the world’s largest creator platforms into the ecosystem, with many more on the way.

What You'll Do

• Build and evolve the backend systems that move creator content into and out of Spotify at massive scale, designing reliable, scalable infrastructure that supports millions of shows and an ever-growing ecosystem of creator content.
• Expand our platform to support new and emerging content formats and distribution standards, designing flexible systems that allow Spotify to quickly adopt new ways of delivering rich creator experiences to audiences.
• Lead complex, cross-functional technical initiatives in close partnership with product managers, engineers, partner teams, and stakeholders across Spotify, turning ambiguous problems into scalable technical solutions and driving them from design through delivery.
• Collaborate with teams across Spotify to evolve our platform architecture, identifying opportunities to simplify systems, remove bottlenecks, and ensure our infrastructure can scale with the growth and changing needs of Spotify’s creator ecosystem.
• Participate in on-call and goalie rotations to maintain the reliability and health of critical platform services, while identifying and driving longer-term improvements that make our systems more resilient and easier to operate.

Who You Are

• You have professional experience building backend systems, with strong experience in Java. Familiarity with JavaScript or Ruby on Rails is a plus.
• You have hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as GCP or AWS and relational databases such as MySQL.
• You have an understanding of platform and distributed systems, and experience building APIs or services that operate at scale. Full stack experience is a plus.
• You are highly adaptable and enjoy picking up new technologies, moving confidently across different parts of systems and tech stacks.
• You are comfortable using AI-powered developer tools such as Claude as a core part of your development workflow to learn new technologies, accelerate development, and solve complex problems. Our team embraces an AI-native approach to engineering, and engineers are expected to actively leverage AI tools in their daily work.
• You thrive in fast-moving environments, handle change with ease, and communicate clearly with teammates and external partners.

Where You'll Be

• This role is based in New York or Los Angeles.
• We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! There will be some in person meetings, but still allows for flexibility to work from home.

The United States base range for this position is $164,448 - $234,926 USD, plus equity. The benefits available for this position include health insurance, six-month paid parental leave, 401(k) retirement plan, monthly meal allowance, 23 paid days off, paid flexible holidays, and paid sick leave. These ranges may be modified in the future.
Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens. At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.