Senior Backend Software Engineer - Climate Change

Company & Mission Overview :

First Street is a research and technology company working to connect climate change to financial risk. First Street uses transparent, peer-reviewed methodologies to calculate the past, present, and future climate risk for every property in the United States.

The data we create is made available in bulk format, API and through our Risk Factor product (riskfactor.com) for citizens, industry, and government.

Our data quantifies the impact of a warming planet at a property level, empowering governments to make smart regulation, businesses to avoid bad investments, and everyday Americans to protect their most valuable investment.

We started seven years ago by working with the world’s leading climate scientists to create groundbreaking, climate-adjusted models and haven’t stopped.

Our data and tools are relied on every day by :

• Government agencies ranging from the U.S. Department of Treasury to Fannie Mae
• Financial institutions like Bank of America and Truist
• States like South Carolina and Illinois
• The millions of daily users on Redfin, Realtor.com, Allstate, and more.

And we’re just getting started. We believe that our work needs to match the pace and scope of the climate problem so we are investing tens of millions of dollars into our science, data, people, and products in order to increase our velocity and impact.

Come join us and use your talents to create solutions to address the problem.

Team & Role Overview :

We are looking for a detailed-oriented person who is passionate about the environment and wants to join our group. The Backend Software Engineer will be responsible for building scalable solutions for First Street’s products.

The ideal candidate would understand how to architect and build scalable systems serving millions of API requests daily.

First Street’s API provides data to web products like RiskFactor.com™, Realtor.com™, and dozens of partners all around.

We use the following technologies :

• Linux
• Kubernetes
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL (+Postgis)
• Elasticsearch
• Redis
• Docker
• JavaScript
• NodeJS
• ReactJS
• GraphQL
• REST
• Python

This is a full-time hybrid Senior Software Engineer role located in Seattle, WA with some flexibility for remote work.

What you’ll do :

• Design and write backend code that powers First Street’s API, written in Go
• Develop and maintain internal software tooling
• Write technical documents
• Troubleshoot and fix bugs
• Identify bottlenecks and improve software efficiency
• Debug and setup cloud-based infrastructure on Amazon Web Services
• Review and provide feedback on contributions from other peers of the software engineering team

What you’ll need :

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant experience in Engineering, Computer Science, or Information Systems
• 5+ years of proven software development
• Solid understanding of backend API development (with knowledge in GraphQL)
• Solid understanding of systems integration
• Solid understanding of databases, either in Postgres or MySQL, including : debugging, optimizations, and queries
• Experience of at least one of these languages : Go, Python, Rust
• Experience with web development to some degree including but not limited to : Front-end development (JavaScript / HTML / CSS), build tools, and dev tools
• Experience with backend JavaScript including but not limited to : NodeJS, NextJS Framework, or any other server-side rendering frameworks

What will make you stand out :

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science or a related field
• A strong passion for climate science
• Experience with GIS and mapping technologies is a plus

How we work :

• Passion : We are driven by our shared goal to fight climate change
• Inclusion : We believe the best decisions consider many points of view
• Impact : We only focus on things that move the needle
• Urgency : We move quickly because the world depends on it
• Integrity : We use open science and operate transparently
• Positivity : We are optimistic and enthusiastic in all that we do

What we offer :

• Competitive salary ranges commensurate with experience
• Ownership interest in the company via Employee Stock Option Plan
• Hybrid Schedule with in-office work days on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
• Working time is flexible; core hours are 9 : 00am 3 : 00pm
• 15 vacation days along with 13 company holidays and 10 sick days
• Health benefits covered at 100% for employee or a significant contribution for family plans
• Vision and dental benefits with partial employee contribution
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• Access to One Medical, Teledoc, HealthAdvocate, Kindbody, and Talkspace
• Company 401k program
• Commuter benefits
• Tech startup environment
• Weekly team meals and an office stocked with coffee and snacks
• Working on the world’s biggest issue with other passionate professionals

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.