Backend Software Engineer, Product

Higgsfield
Almaty, Kazakhstan
On-site

Who this role is best for

Geared toward engineers comfortable with owning product outcomes and optimizing high-traffic backend systems, with a focus on collaborative AI tools and a need for strong database and architecture expertise in a full-time, on-site role in Almaty.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience in building high-traffic backend systems and a history of delivering product features from concept to production
    — “You can explain your decisions and measurable results”
  • Individuals who have worked on social networks or collaborative tools and understand their design trade-offs
    — “You've built or studied social networks and collaborative tools”
  • Engineers with a strong background in PostgreSQL, Redis, and event-driven architectures using Kafka or SQS
    — “Data: PostgreSQL and Redis; messaging: Kafka, Amazon SQS, and RabbitMQ”

Things to consider

  • The role requires high availability and reliability under urgent launches and production issues
    — “Energy for an intense pace, shifting priorities, and urgent launches or production issues”
  • Candidates must be prepared to work on-call or beyond regular hours for critical system maintenance
    — “can require work outside regular hours”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in defining API contracts and coordinating cross-team feature delivery
    — “Define API contracts and coordinate frontend work to deliver the complete feature”
  • Emphasize measurable results from past projects, especially in high-traffic environments
    — “A track record of shipping and operating backend systems across multiple projects”
  • Demonstrate knowledge of security practices like tenant isolation and preventing IDOR vulnerabilities
    — “prevent IDOR in reads and writes, including resource IDs in request bodies”
  • Showcase ownership of problems and ability to propose and execute improvements without waiting for direction
    — “you find worthwhile problems, propose improvements, remove blockers”
  • Demonstrate experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD, and infrastructure tools like Docker and Helm
    — “Hands-on Kubernetes and CI/CD experience, from design and testing to deployment and debugging”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • builds AI creation workflows
  • defines success metrics
Typical background
deep database expertisestrong architecture judgment

Skills & requirements

Required

Database ExpertiseArchitecture JudgmentAPI SecurityHigh-traffic WorkloadsBackend Systems

Preferred

Social NetworksCollaborative ToolsKubernetesCI/CD

Stack & domain

Database ExpertiseData ModelingIndexesQuery PlansPartitioningTransactionsLockingProduction BottlenecksArchitecture JudgmentService BoundariesApisAsynchronous WorkflowsCachingFailure HandlingKubernetesCI/CDAPI SecurityAuthenticationObject-level AuthorizationTenant IsolationSocial NetworksCollaborative ToolsFeedsFollow GraphsNotificationsSharing PermissionsReal-time SyncConcurrent EditsPythonFastapiGoGinTypeScriptReactNext.jsPostgreSQLRedisBigQueryClickhouseKafkaAmazon SQSRabbitmqAWSS3DynamodbECRSecrets ManagerDockerAmazon EKSHelmArgo CDGithub ActionsPrometheusGrafanaOpentelemetrySentryInitiativeOwnershipLow EgoAmbitionOptimismEnergyIntense PaceShifting PrioritiesUrgent LaunchesProduction IssuesBackend EngineeringAI Creation WorkflowsCinema Studio CollaborationCommunity Features

About the role

Original posting from Higgsfield via Ashby

Almaty, Kazakhstan · Trust & Safety Engineering

Why this role exists

Higgsfield builds tools for AI creators: creative workflows, collaborative projects in Cinema Studio, and a community for sharing work. We need a backend engineer who combines deep database and architecture expertise with the initiative to own product outcomes, from the first idea to production.

What you'll actually do

  • Build AI creation workflows, Cinema Studio collaboration, and community features: sharing, discovery, contests, profiles, and follows.
  • Own features and bugs through release and follow-up. Define API contracts and coordinate frontend work to deliver the complete feature.
  • Deliver responsive UX: live progress, timely updates, and clear failure recovery, even when it takes more engineering effort.
  • Remove database and service bottlenecks under high traffic; improve correctness, latency, and reliability.
  • Define success metrics, build dashboards and alerts, and track adoption and system health after launch.

Must-haves

  • Deep database expertise: data modeling, indexes, query plans, partitioning, transactions, and locking. You diagnose production bottlenecks and understand the trade-offs behind your fixes.
  • Strong architecture judgment: service boundaries, APIs, asynchronous workflows, caching, and failure handling. Hands-on Kubernetes and CI/CD experience, from design and testing to deployment and debugging.
  • A track record of shipping and operating backend systems across multiple projects, including high-traffic workloads. You can explain your decisions and measurable results.
  • API security: authentication, object-level authorization, and tenant isolation. You prevent IDOR in reads and writes, including resource IDs in request bodies, and test access across users and workspaces.
  • You've built or studied social networks and collaborative tools, and can explain design trade-offs in feeds, follow graphs, notifications, sharing permissions, real-time sync, and concurrent edits.
  • High agency and ownership: you find worthwhile problems, propose improvements, remove blockers, and follow through without waiting for assignments.
  • Low ego: you welcome direct feedback, admit mistakes, change your mind with evidence, and help wherever the team needs you.
  • Ambition and optimism: hard goals and rapid growth energize you. You challenge assumptions constructively and commit to making ambitious ideas work.
  • Energy for an intense pace, shifting priorities, and urgent launches or production issues that can require work outside regular hours.

Our tech stack

  • Languages and frameworks: Python (FastAPI), Go (Gin), and TypeScript (React/Next.js on the frontend).
  • Data: PostgreSQL and Redis; analytical databases such as BigQuery or ClickHouse.
  • Messaging: Kafka, Amazon SQS, and RabbitMQ; event-driven services and asynchronous workers.
  • AWS: S3, DynamoDB, ECR, and Secrets Manager.
  • Infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes on Amazon EKS, Helm, Argo CD, and GitHub Actions.
  • Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, and Sentry.

Interview process

  • Recruiter screen: role expectations, logistics, and fit.
  • Technical interview: a difficult system you shipped, what you personally decided and built, and how your work made the team more capable without leaving it dependent on you.
  • Additional technical interview, if needed: a deeper discussion of technical skills and open questions.
  • Product fit interview: turn a user problem into a small first release, decide what to leave out, and explain how feedback would change the solution.
  • Offer.

What we offer

Competitive base in USD, equity, relocation support, and ownership of product experiences that directly shape how people create with AI.

Source: Higgsfield careers (Ashby)

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