Whatnot

Engineering Manager, Backend Platforms

Los Angeles, CA · Senior

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 62 days ago

PythonElixirSpringRESTLeadershipCommunicationProblem Solving

About the role

🚀 Join the Future of Commerce with Whatnot!
We're one of the fastest growing marketplaces and were recently named the #1 Best Startup Employer in America by Forbes.
The work compounds: every improvement to these platforms raises the floor for hundreds of engineers and millions of buyers and sellers.

Lead and grow a team of senior software engineers and, over time, other engineering managers. Hire well, develop leaders, and shape the org as it scales.
Own team strategy and execution. Empower senior ICs to define technical direction and architecture, while staying technically engaged enough to challenge decisions, unblock tradeoffs, and step in when course-correction is needed.
Lead the team in evolving Whatnot's Python and Elixir backend cores: the Main Back End, async and messaging infrastructure, and the storage and database layer underneath.
Own the platforms behind Whatnot's realtime product surface, including Live Service and Auction Service, which power the livestream and bidding experience at the heart of the business.
Drive measurable improvements in platform reliability, performance, and developer ergonomics across the systems this team owns.
Partner with Reliability, Infrastructure, and product engineering teams to shape architecture and standards across Whatnot.
Build a culture of engineering and operational excellence: high code quality, clear ownership, disciplined deprecation, and accountability for production behavior.
A high bar for both engineering and operational excellence. You're energized by building backend platforms the rest of engineering depends on, and you take pride in owning how those systems behave in production.
Work From Home Support
All Whatnauts are expected to develop a deep understanding of our product.

10+ years of industry experience in platform or infrastructure engineering, with 7+ years managing engineering teams.
Experience managing managers or leading multiple teams is strongly preferred.
Strong technical grounding in backend systems at scale, including high-traffic realtime or event-driven platforms.
Whatnot's backend runs on Python and Elixir, with Go used for performance-sensitive components.
Direct experience with any of these is a plus
equally strong candidates from other modern backend stacks who are eager to learn are welcome.

Annual allowance towards Childcare
Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally

Flexible Time off Policy and Company-wide Holidays (including a spring and winter break)
Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
Home office setup allowance
Monthly allowance for wellness
Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
Parental Leave

Whatnot is the largest live shopping platform in North America and Europe to buy, sell, and discover the things you love.
Whether it's trading cards, fashion, electronics, or live plants, our sellers are building real businesses across hundreds of categories.
We're building live commerce at a scale that's never been done in the West, and there's no playbook to copy.
The people here are shaping how an entirely new industry develops.
As a remote co-located team, we're inspired by our values and anchored in hubs across the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia.
We move fast, stay close to our users, and focus on the work that drives the most impact.
Check out the latest Whatnot updates on our news and engineering blogs and join us as we enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce.
10+ years of industry experience in platform or infrastructure engineering, with 7+ years managing engineering teams. Experience managing managers or leading multiple teams is strongly preferred.

This listing is sourced directly from Whatnot's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.