Parse.ly, a part of WordPress VIP, is the real-time content measurement layer for the entire web. Our analytics platform helps digital WordPress VIP storytellers at some of the web’s best sites, such as Arstechnica, The New Yorker, TechCrunch, Wired, The Intercept, Slate, and many more. In total, our analytics system handles over 65 billion monthly events from over 1 billion monthly unique visitors. Parse.ly and WordPress VIP are part of Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, Simplenote, Jetpack, Longreads, Day One, PocketCasts, and more, with a mission to make the web a better place.
About the Role
We’re looking for talented backend engineers to join Parse.ly’s backend engineering team. We currently make use of data engineering technologies like Apache Spark, Storm, Kafka, and Elasticsearch to analyze large datasets. As a Backend Software Engineer at Parse.ly, you will be expected to master these technologies, while also being able to write code against them in Python.
Our team is responsible for providing a real-time analytics infrastructure that processes over 2 million page views per minute from over 5,000 high-traffic sites. It operates a fleet of cloud servers that include thousands of cores for live data processing. We have written publicly about mage, our time series analytics engine. This will give you an idea about the kinds of systems we work on.
As an experienced Backend Software Engineer, you will help us expand our reach into petabyte-scale data analysis—while ensuring consistent uptime, provable reliability, and top-rated performance of our backend streaming data systems.
We believe in just the right amount of process – enough to keep things efficient, but not so much that it stifles creativity. We’re all about empowerment and autonomy, giving you the freedom to make meaningful decisions and own your work. Egos? Not our style. We value collaboration, respect, and working together towards shared goals. Trust is huge here; we believe in open communication and transparency every step of the way. When you join us, you’re not just a team member, you’re part of a group committed to supporting each other and achieving great things together.
Responsibilities
What you’ll do
For this role, you should already be a senior Python programmer who wants to work with data at scale. Below are some of the key things this role will involve:
- Write Python code using standard methodologies. See The Elements of Python Style, written by our founding CTO, for an example of our approach to code readability and design.
- Analyze data at an extensive scale. You need to be comfortable with the idea of your code running across 3,000 Python cores, thanks to process-level parallelization.
- Brainstorm new product ideas and directions with the team and customers. You need to be a good communicator, especially in written form.
- Master cloud technologies and systems. You should love UNIX and be able to reason about distributed systems. A favorite book of yours might be Designing Data-Intensive Applications (DDIA).
- Participate in the team’s on-call rotation.
Parse.ly Backend Technology Stack
We currently adopt the following technologies across the Parse.ly platform:
- Python & JavaScript.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- Databases like Elasticsearch, Redis, Cassandra, and Postgres.
- Frameworks like Django, FastAPI, and the PyData stack (e.g. Pandas).
- Kafka, Storm, Spark in production atop large data sets (terabytes per day).
- System management with Ansible, Terraform, and Nomad.
- Containerized workloads and services.
Requirements
- Strong knowledge of Python.
- Commitment to clean coding practices.
- Excitement to work with large-scale data systems (petabyte scale).
- Understanding and interest in building and working on distributed systems.
- Experience with databases (Elasticsearch, Redis, Cassandra, PostgreSQL).
- Strong written communication skills.
- Comfortable with on-call rotations.
- Located in North America, South America, or western EMEA (timezone within 5 hours east or west of UTC-5).
Bonus Points if you have:
- Knowledge of Frameworks in the Python ecosystem (Django, FastAPI, Pydantic).
- Experience with distributed systems and cloud computing (preferably AWS).
- Knowledge of data processing frameworks (Kafka, Storm, Spark, or similar).
- Experience working with large-scale data systems (petabyte scale).
- Strong UNIX/Linux knowledge and experience.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $70,000-$170,000 USD. Please note that salary ranges are global, regardless of location, and we pay in local currency.
We are searching for high-caliber candidates with the skills and qualities to have a net positive for Automattic. Pay will reflect the potential contribution and the impact you can bring, which may in some cases, for the right candidate, go beyond the range stated.
This isn’t your typical work-from-home job—we are a fully-remote company with an open vacation policy. Read more about our compensation philosophy. To see a full list of benefits by country, consult our Benefits Page. And check out these links to learn more about How We Hire and What We Expect from Ourselves.
About Automattic
We are the people behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, Simplenote, Jetpack, Longreads, Day One, Pocket Casts, and more. We believe in making the web a better place.
We’re a distributed company with more than 1700 Automatticians in 92 countries speaking 110+ different languages. And, even more than growth and profitability (although we’re plenty profitable), above all, we’re driven by a mission: We democratize publishing and commerce so anyone with a story can tell it, and anyone with a product can sell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or country.
We believe in Open Source, and the vast majority of our work is available under the GPL.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Automattic
We’re improving diversity in the tech industry. At Automattic, we want people to love their work and show respect and empathy to all. We welcome differences and strive to increase participation from traditionally underrepresented groups. Our DEI committee involves Automatticians across the company and drives grassroots change. For example, this group has helped facilitate private online spaces for affiliated Automatticians to gather and helps run a monthly DEI People Lab series for further learning. DEI is a priority at Automattic, though our dedication influences far more than just Automatticians: We make our products freely available and translate our products into and offer customer support in numerous languages. We require unconscious bias training for our hiring teams and ensure our products are accessible across different bandwidths and devices.
Automattic is a Most Loved Company and Disability Confident Committed. (Here’s what that might mean for you.) Learn more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion and our Employee Resource Groups.
