Staff Backend Engineer

Come Dream with Us at Hatch

There's nothing like a great night's sleep—the cozy, wrapped-up-in-a-heavy-blanket kind of sleep. The fire-crackling, curtains-drawn, DO NOT DISTURB kind of sleep. You know, the good stuff.

But here's the thing: while 85% of people agree sleep is the key to their well-being, more than half are unsatisfied with their own. Whether it's stress, interruptions, work, or little ones waking in the night, so many people need help getting truly restorative rest.

That's where we come in. At Hatch, we're on a mission to help people build better sleep habits—so they can feel more focused, energized, and present in their lives. We've designed best-in-class smart sleep devices, paired with science-backed sleep content, to help people unwind nightly, sleep deeply, and wake gently. More than
5 million
sleepers of all ages have made space for rest with Hatch, with our baby products in
1 in 3 nurseries
and our adult product,
Restore,
taking over nightstands (and TikTok) worldwide.

We are open to candidates across the U.S. and Canada, with a strong preference for those located in New York or San Francisco. Hatch is based in California, so we ask that you're available during PST/PDT hours.

Now we're looking for a Staff Backend Engineer to build, optimize, and scale the APIs and systems that power our connected sleep ecosystem.

The Role: How You'll Make an Impact

Team:
Backend Engineering |
Reports to:
Principal Backend Engineer |
Location:
Remote-friendly (US/Canada, PST hours)

You'll design, build, and maintain the backend services that power Hatch's mobile apps and IoT-enabled devices, including Java and Python REST API services, as well as monitoring, alerting, and DevOps in general.  Our systems are a complex mixture of Java-based servers, AWS IoT and Lambda interacting with our mobile apps and fleet of IoT-enabled devices. Working across Mobile, Embedded, and Product teams, you'll lead backend system design, define best practices, and mentor other engineers. This is a chance to work across a uniquely end-to-end ecosystem—from cloud APIs to physical devices in millions of homes.

As a Staff Backend Engineer, you'll guide cross-functional technical strategy.  Once you demonstrate a mastery of our systems, you will have a lot of discretion to propose and build improvements to the overall platform.

What You'll Do

First 90 Days: Learn & Contribute

• Ramp up on our backend architecture, systems, and AI-enhanced development tools
• Ship improvements to our Spring Boot + Hibernate systems
• Start contributing to architecture conversations and cross-team design
• Ship your first scoped improvement or feature used by our mobile or device teams
• Build strong working relationships with peers across Mobile, Embedded, and Product

First 6 Months: Drive Real Impact

• Thoroughly understand the end-to-end flow of the entire backend architecture and the interactions with the app and device firmware
• Propose and lead architecture or refactor projects that improve system scalability and reliability.  Drive the resolution of troubleshooting issues.
• Own a core area like IoT device communication, registration/auth flows, device routine scheduling, or backend support for mobile app features
• Improve observability using Graphite, ELK, or other internal monitoring tools
• Mentor teammates and model pragmatic, high-quality engineering decisions
• Recent projects include building a Pydantic AI backend for our in-app agent, an ECS pipeline and Java API to surface new insights from our millions of customer devices.

First Year: Transform & Scale

• Lead the design and rollout of new backend systems or large-scale refactors
• Deliver backend improvements that elevate reliability, scalability, and developer experience
• Build reusable libraries, templates, and patterns that increase engineering consistency
• Define how we incorporate AI tools into our backend workflows to drive speed and quality

What You'll Bring

The Essentials

• 8+ years
  of experience in backend engineering, with deep expertise in Java (21+) and Spring Boot.  Familiarity and experience with Groovy.  Experience with Python backend services.
• Track record
  of designing and building scalable, RESTful JSON APIs.
• Technical skills:
  Distributed Systems, Java, Groovy, Python, AWS, MySQL, Infra and Monitoring Tools (Ansible, Jenkins, ELK. Graphite, Docker, etc.)
• Automate, Automate, Automate
  : You know how to write automated tests and can explain how and where to use them (and not). You believe in Continuous Deployment and understand testing's crucial role.
• Desire for elegance and simplicity
  : Your code should be so powerful, and so simple, that you have little work to do.  "Do the simplest thing that can possibly work" is not just a slogan here; it's a way of life.
• Judgement and Humility
  : You're self-aware enough to know you're going down a rabbit hole and when to raise concerns.  You know that asking for help is not a sign of weakness but rather a strength.

Unafraid of new, unknown tech: You dive into new tech and paradigms that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with eager glee.  You've picked up multiple languages over your career and stay curious about new tools, frameworks, and technologies.

• Collaborative spirit
  : You make everyone around you better
• Clear communication
  : You can explain complex things simply

Bonus Points
• Pydantic AI
• Ansible-based DevOps pipelines
• Connected Hardware Experience
• MQTT

The Mindset We Love

• Customer mindset:
  You stay laser-focused on driving value for our customers
• AI-adoptive:
  You see AI as a superpower, not a threat.
• Builder mentality:
  You thrive in a rapid growth environment just on the edge of chaos
• Humans over Process:
  We prioritize face to face resolution rather than async processes that drag on
• Pick Up a Shovel
  (you help where needed - even out of your area of expertise)
• Feedback is a Gift
  (you have experience gracefully receiving and giving feedback)
• Learn Faster
  (ship small features iteratively, learn, and commit to the next step)

How We Work: AI-Forward Culture

We're not just using AI—we're pioneering how modern teams work with it:

• Tools that amplify you:
  Access to Copilot, ChatGPT, and all the AIs.
• Time to explore:
  Time for AI experiments and workflow improvements
• Share & scale:
  Weekly sessions where we share productivity breakthroughs
• Write less boilerplate:
  Spend your time shipping features, not writing repetitious code
• Continuous learning:
  Regular workshops, hackathons, and "wow, look what I built" moments

The result? You'll do the best work of your career, faster than you thought possible.

Why You'll Love Working at Hatch

We're a certified Great Place to Work
94% of our employees say Hatch is a great place to work.

You'll work with an amazing leadership team
that truly values employees and leads with our company values every day.

We help people sleep better
Our products make a meaningful impact on people's lives.

Our team is collaborative, fun, and full of brilliant minds.

We're backed by world-class investors
and growing fast

We support flexibility with a remote-friendly work environment.

The Perks & Benefits That Matter

100% paid
medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees (80% for dependents, including domestic partners)

Meaningful equity
—you're an owner here

401(k) match
(no vesting schedule)

16 weeks of fully paid parental leave

16 free therapy sessions
(for you + one other adult in your life)

Financial support for family planning

Remote office + monthly internet reimbursement

Friends & family discounts on Hatch products

Exclusive discounts
on travel, entertainment, and top retail brands

And so many more spontaneous perks

About Hatch

Designed by experts and loved by parents, our
Rest family
—including Rest, Rest+, and Rest Go—helps little ones (and their grown-ups) build healthy sleep routines. For adults,
Hatch Restore
is a fully customizable smart sleep clock and sunrise alarm designed to help you unwind nightly, sleep deeply, and wake gently.

Founded in 2014 by parent entrepreneurs
Ann Crady Weiss and Dave Weiss
and featured on Shark Tank, Hatch is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

We are an
equal opportunity employer
and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

Ready to Help the World Sleep Better?

We'd love to hear from you Apply now and join us in making great sleep a reality for all.

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