Sr. Backend Engineer, Canada

NovoEd is an enterprise learning platform that helps organizations build critical capabilities at scale through collaborative and experiential learning. Founded in 2012 out of Stanford’s Social Algorithm Laboratory, NovoEd has grown into a trusted partner for many of the world’s leading companies, executive education providers, and training organizations.

Today, NovoEd powers a modern learning ecosystem built around three core experiences: Learning, Mentoring, and Practicing. Our platform enables organizations to deliver cohort-based learning, structured mentorship, and real-world skill application in a single integrated environment—helping employees move beyond passive learning to actively develop and apply new skills.

AI is now a core part of the NovoEd platform. AI helps course creators generate and structure learning content more efficiently, provides learners with personalized insights and feedback, and supports interactive learning experiences such as guided practice, coaching, and role-playing scenarios. These capabilities help organizations scale high-quality learning experiences while maintaining engagement and practical skill development.

By combining collaborative learning design, AI-powered capabilities, and enterprise-grade technology, NovoEd connects global learners, mentors, and leaders in high-impact programs that drive measurable business outcomes. Organizations rely on NovoEd to develop leadership capabilities, accelerate transformation initiatives, and build the skills their workforce needs to succeed in a rapidly evolving world.

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Backend Engineer with strong expertise in backend development and a passion for building reliable, scalable systems. This role plays a key part in delivering high-quality backend services and driving technical excellence across our platform. You will work closely with engineers across frontend, backend, AI and infrastructure to design and implement solutions that support product growth and maintain a strong focus on performance, reliability, and maintainability.

As a Senior Engineer, you will combine deep technical skills with collaborative leadership—contributing to system design, and helping raise the overall engineering bar. You will also work with modern development workflows, including AI-assisted coding tools, to improve development efficiency while maintaining high standards for code quality and system design.

Key Responsibilities

Architect and Build Scalable Systems

• Design and implement robust, scalable, and maintainable backend systems, primarily using Ruby on Rails. Contribute to building well-architected solutions with a focus on performance, security, and long-term maintainability. Work on both new feature development and refactoring of legacy systems to ensure the platform remains scalable and efficient.
• Use modern developer workflows—including AI-assisted coding tools—to accelerate development, explore implementation approaches, and improve productivity while maintaining high standards for code quality and reliability.

System Integrations & API Development

• Develop and integrate APIs that enable secure, efficient, and reliable communication between backend services and external systems. Work on integrating third-party services into the system, managing data flow, security, and performance.
• Collaborate with frontend engineers to ensure seamless integration with backend systems and deliver a consistent experience to end users. Use modern development tooling—including AI-assisted workflows—to help improve development speed, documentation, and testing.

Database Design & Optimization

• Design, develop, and optimize relational databases with a focus on availability, scalability, and performance. Ensure database schemas and queries support the needs of complex applications, and troubleshoot performance bottlenecks when they arise.
• Use modern diagnostics and tooling—including AI-assisted analysis where appropriate—to investigate performance issues and improve database efficiency.

Technical Debt Management & Feature Development

• Take ownership of backend features and functionality, contributing to development from design through deployment. Identify and address areas of technical debt to keep the system maintainable and performant while continuing to deliver new capabilities.
• Leverage automation and development tools—including AI-assisted refactoring and code generation—to help improve code quality and maintainability.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with cross-functional teams including product managers, frontend developers, and DevOps engineers to ensure backend systems align with business goals and customer needs.
• Participate in technica