Staff Backend Engineer

About Arena Club 

If you’re fascinated by sports cards and memorabilia, your search ends here. Arena Club is pioneering the collectibles domain by introducing the first-ever digital card show. Spearheaded by 5x World Series Champion Derek Jeter and serial entrepreneur Brian Lee, Arena Club has developed a fully digital marketplace. This innovative platform is built on trust, transparency, and fun, featuring grading & authentication, vaulting, and digital pack openings for collectors to build and showcase their collections in a personalized online showroom from anywhere in the world.

About the Role

Join our fast-growing startup as a Staff Backend Engineer and help scale the backbone of our platform and expand into new product categories. We are a dynamic, high-growth company where your work will have a direct impact on product success and scalability. This position is in-office, fostering a fun and collaborative environment, with flexibility for a hybrid arrangement to accommodate personal needs as they arise.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend applications and APIs using Node.js, TypeScript, and Postgres
• Leverage AI-powered coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Tabnine) to improve development speed, code quality, and system reliability
• Architect and optimize systems for high scalability and performance as the business rapidly expands
• Implement third-party integrations and external APIs to enhance the platform’s capabilities
• Develop and maintain internal tools that support fulfillment operations, internal workflows, and machine learning initiatives
• Set backend engineering standards and guide architectural decisions to ensure long-term scalability, performance, and reliability
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers, shaping the culture and velocity of a growing team
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and frontend teams to ship high-impact features quickly
• Ensure backend systems are secure, well-documented, and thoroughly tested

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience as a professional backend engineer
• Strong proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and Postgres
• Proven experience building and scaling eCommerce or online marketplace platforms
• Passion for using the latest AI coding tools and AI-driven best practices to enhance development workflows
• Deep understanding of cloud platforms (AWS) and containerization/infrastructure-as-code tools (Docker, Terraform)
• Experience setting engineering best practices, making architectural decisions, and influencing technical direction across teams
• Ability to move fast and iterate quickly in a startup environment while maintaining high code quality
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate technical trade- offs effectively

Tech Stack

• Languages & Frameworks: TypeScript, Node.js, Python
• Database: Postgres
• Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (S3, SQS, etc.) and/or GCP, Docker, Terraform
• AI Development Tools: AI-powered coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), LLM-based development enhancements

The Arena Club Standard

Life at Arena Club isn’t for the faint of heart, and that’s by design. We’re building products and experiences the collectibles world has never seen. This is a proving ground. It demands your best every single day, because anything less means you’re falling behind.

From day one, you’re in the game. Trusted to deliver, expected to own outcomes, and driven to raise the bar higher than you thought possible. We don’t just execute — we innovate, compete, and win together. 

If you want routine or predictability, you won’t find it here. But if you’re ambitious, relentless, and hungry to prove yourself on a team built to dominate, step into the arena. You’ll discover growth and reward here, unlike anywhere else.