Senior Server Engineer

About This Role

Strava is the app for active people. With over 150 million athletes in more than 190 countries, it’s more than tracking workouts—it’s where connection, motivation, and personal bests thrive. No matter your activity, gear, or goals, Strava’s got you covered. Find your crew, crush your milestones, and keep moving forward. Start your journey with Strava today.

We’re seeking a Senior Server Engineer to join the Achieve team, specializing in backend and server-side development to support product and feature initiatives for the Progress Tab on Strava’s mobile app. In this role, you will play a key part in designing and building scalable services and systems that elevate the Strava experience for millions of athletes worldwide.

We follow a flexible hybrid model that generally translates to around half your time on-site in our San Francisco office—roughly three days per week.

You’re Excited About This Opportunity Because You Will:

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services using Strava’s tech stack (Ruby, Java, Scala, Python, Go, MySQL, Redis, Cassandra, Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, Elasticsearch, and GraphQL).
• Develop and optimize APIs that seamlessly integrate with client-facing applications to deliver impactful features.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners, including product managers, designers, and client-side engineers, to align technical implementation with business needs.
• Mentor and support other engineers, fostering a culture of learning, growth, and technical excellence.
• Ensure service reliability, scalability, and performance while balancing technical debt with new feature development.

You will be successful here by:

• Delivering robust, high-quality backend solutions that meet user and business needs.
• Owning services end-to-end, from design and development through deployment and maintenance.
• Aligning technical architecture with Strava’s long-term goals while supporting product scalability and growth.
• Encouraging a collaborative and inclusive team environment through mentorship and technical leadership.
• Promoting best practices in coding, testing, and operational excellence.

We’re excited about you because:

• You have 6+ years of professional software development experience or equivalent expertise in backend engineering.
• You are proficient in at least one of Strava’s core backend languages (Ruby, Java, Scala, Python, or Go).
• You have experience with relational (e.g., MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., Redis, Cassandra) databases in production environments.
• You have a solid understanding of distributed systems, API design (GraphQL is a plus), and technologies like Kafka, Kubernetes, and Docker.
• You excel at mentoring engineers and fostering a positive, growth-oriented team culture. 

Compensation Overview

At Strava, we know our employees are the most important ingredient to our success, and our compensation and total rewards programs reflect that. We take a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on the department and your location. Salary ranges are categorized into one of three tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. We will determine the candidate’s starting pay based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. We may modify these ranges in the future. For more information, please contact your talent partner.

Compensation: $160,000 - $190,000. The base salary posted is within the compensation range for this role. This range reflects base pay only and does not include, equity, or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process. 

For more information on benefits, please click here. 

About Strava

Strava is Swedish for “strive,” which epitomizes who we are and what we do. We’re a passionate and committed team, unified by our mission to connect athletes to what motivates them and help them find their personal best. With billions of activity uploads from all over the world, we have a humbling and adventurous vision: to be the record of the world’s athletic activities and the technology that makes every effort count.

Strava builds software that makes the best part of our athletes’ days even better. Just as we’re deeply committed to unlocking their potential, we’re dedicated to providing a world-class, inclusive workplace where our employees can grow and thrive, too. We’re backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, Madrone Partners and Jackson Square Ventures, and we’re expanding in order to exceed the needs of our growing community of global athletes. Our culture reflects our community. We are continuously striving to hire and engage diverse teammates from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives because we know we are a stronger team together.

Despite challenges in the world around us, we are continuing to grow camaraderie and positivity within our culture.  We are differentiated by our truly people-first approach, our compassionate leadership, and our belief that we can bring joy and inspiration to athletes’ lives — now more than ever. All to say, it’s a great time to join Strava!

Strava is an equal opportunity employer. In keeping with the values of Strava, we make all employment decisions including hiring, evaluation, termination, promotional and training opportunities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical handicap, mental disability, medical condition, disability, gender or identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, marital status, height and/or weight.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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