About the Role
About the Role
The Senior Software Engineer for Safety Backend at Discord will be responsible for owning complex safety infrastructure projects from design to post-launch. This role involves building and maintaining production systems at scale while collaborating with various teams to ensure effective solutions for content moderation and safety.
What You'll Be Doing
- Own complex safety infrastructure projects end-to-end, from initial design through post-launch monitoring and iteration.
- Build and maintain production systems that operate at massive scale, participating in on-call rotations.
- Apply an adversarial mindset to your work — thinking through security, abuse scenarios, edge cases, and scalability concerns.
- Collaborate closely with Trust & Safety, ML, Policy, and product teams to understand requirements and deliver effective solutions.
- Break down large, multi-milestone projects into prioritized work streams while managing stakeholders and dependencies across teams.
- Contribute to technical design discussions and write RFCs; help establish best practices and maintain a high quality bar through code reviews and mentorship.
Who You Should Have
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience focused on backend services and/or infrastructure.
- Strong programming skills in Python; we work occasionally in Rust and TypeScript as well.
- Experience building and operating distributed systems and production services at scale such as GCP or AWS.
- Strong debugging skills and ability to navigate complex, multi-service codebases.
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills, including experience working with cross-functional partners.
- A quality-centered mindset with attention to the right details at every stage of development.
Bonus Points
- Experience with content moderation, trust & safety, or related problem domains.
- Experience with ML/LLM integration.
- Experience with observability tooling, metrics, and monitoring systems at scale.
- A strong passion for Discord and making online communities safer.
Compensation
This position is US-based only. We are seeking candidates located in the Los Angeles or San Francisco Bay Areas. Candidates in the Los Angeles area can work remotely. Candidates in the San Francisco area are required to be in the office 2 days per week. Relocation assistance may be available to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Salary
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $220,500 to $269,500 + equity + benefits.
Requirements
Backend services experience
5+ years of professional software engineering experience focused on backend services and/or infrastructure.
Strong Python skills
Proficiency in Python programming, with occasional work in Rust and TypeScript.
Distributed systems knowledge
Experience building and operating distributed systems and production services at scale such as GCP or AWS.
Debugging skills
Strong debugging skills and ability to navigate complex, multi-service codebases.
Collaboration skills
Excellent collaboration and communication skills, including experience working with cross-functional partners.
Nice to Have
Experience with content moderation, trust & safety, or related problem domains.
Experience with ML/LLM integration.
Experience with observability tooling, metrics, and monitoring systems at scale.
A strong passion for Discord and making online communities safer.
Benefits
Equity
Employees receive equity as part of their compensation.
Remote work options
Candidates in the Los Angeles area can work remotely.
Relocation assistance
Relocation assistance may be available to the San Francisco Bay Area.