Back-end Architect

Job SummaryWe are looking for a Back-end Architect to help drive the launch of a new, high-impact business line at Toptal. In this pivotal role, you’ll own the technical vision and turn napkin sketches into a resilient, scalable, platform.This is a greenfield opportunity where you’ll shape architecture, guide early technical decisions, and work to bring an ambitious product to life - all while directly contributing to Toptal’s growth and innovation roadmap. The decisions you make in the first 12 months will define the platform’s DNA, its velocity, and its capacity to serve thousands of customers. If you’re excited to architect from a blank slate, move fast, and build a category-defining product, we’d love to meet you.This is a remote position. We do not offer visa sponsorship or assistance. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.Responsibilities:The following information is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities or required skills.· Set the end-to-end architecture: data storage, task orchestration, model-in-the-loop pipelines, multi-tenant, and observability.·
Drive every “build vs. buy” decision and seed the initial tech stack (cloud, languages, frameworks, infra-as-code).·
Prototype core services quickly (eventually harden them for SOC 2)·
Participate in the recruiting process, mentor, and unblock a small team of platform, ML, and front-end engineers as the company scales.·
Partner with the Product Lead to translate fuzzy customer needs into clear, actionable technical requirements.·
Establish engineering culture, coding standards, and CI/CD from day one.·
Represent the technology narrative with stakeholders, design partners, and early enterprise customers.In the first week, expect to:
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Join our team, where you will be introduced to Toptal’s practices and processes.·
Start participating in company-wide training sessions.·
Get familiar with our product vision.·
Set up your local environment and get familiar with our tech stack.·
Create your first pull request.In the first month, expect to:
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Understand what has been built so far.·
Identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement.·
Contribute to architectural design and decision making.In the first three months, expect to:
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Lead technical initiatives in our team.·
Work on long term roadmap and scalability.·
Suggest and implement improvements to Toptal’s processes and codebase, while exercising discretion and independent judgment.In the first six months, expect to:
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Stay up to date with technology advancement and ensure our technology stack is optimized for strategic growth and the competitive advantage of Toptal.·
Balance the technical roadmap to account for both existing technical debt and long-term strategy for sustainable growth.·
Mentor Toptal’s new team members.In the first year, expect to:
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Work on scaling the data-labeling engine.·
Build a roadmap to achieve compliance (SOC 2).Qualifications and Job Requirements:
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10+ years designing and shipping distributed data systems at scale (storage, streaming, versioning, or large annotation workflows).·
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.·
Fluency with a major cloud + modern data stack (e.g., AWS + Kafka/Flink, object stores, Snowflake/BigQuery, vector DBs).·
Deep track record architecting large-scale, multi-tenant data or ML platforms (petabyte storage, high-throughput streams, strict uptime targets).·
Hands-on experience building zero-to-one products and navigating rapid iteration under ambiguity.·
Comfort pitching architecture to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders—and rolling up sleeves to write production code.·
A collaborative, founder-level mindset: bias to action, ownership over outcomes, and passion for elegant, pragmatic solutions.·
You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do

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