Sr. Software Engineer, Backend



Location

San Francisco, California



Department

Engineering



Job Type

Full Time



Focus

Our Mission:

Launched in 2012, Tinder® revolutionized how people meet, growing from 1 match to one billion matches in just two years. This rapid growth demonstrates its ability to fulfill a fundamental human need: real connection. Today, the app has been downloaded over 630 million times, leading to over 97 billion matches, serving approximately 50 million users per month in 190 countries and 45+ languages - a scale unmatched by any other app in the category. In 2024, Tinder won four Effie Awards for its first-ever global brand campaign, “It Starts with a Swipe”™

Our Values:

One Team, One Dream

We work hand-in-hand, building Tinder for our members. We succeed together when we work collaboratively across functions, teams, and time zones, and think outside the box to achieve our company vision and mission.

Own It

We take accountability and strive to make a positive impact in all aspects of our business, through ownership, innovation, and a commitment to excellence.

Never Stop Learning

We cultivate a culture where it’s safe to take risks. We seek out input, share honest feedback, celebrate our wins, and learn from our mistakes in order to continue improving.

Spark Solutions

We’re problem solvers, focusing on how to best move forward when faced with obstacles. We don’t dwell on the past or on the issues at hand, but instead look at how to stay agile and overcome hurdles to achieve our goals.

Embrace Our Differences

We are intentional about building a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members. By leveraging different perspectives and other ways of thinking, we build better experiences for our members and our team.

The Role:

The Recommendations Ecosystem team is focused on constantly improving user and business outcomes through conducting numerous experiments that tweak the recommendation algorithms that decide who users see and who sees them, building tools and platforms around A/B testing and understanding the health of the ecosystem, and integrating modern ML models into our recommendation systems. The initiatives on this team help millions of users match, converse, and hopefully form meaningful relationships.

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Tinder, you will have an outsized impact and ownership of the most critical services that enable and support the core experience of the Tinder app. We are deeply invested in challenging norms, constantly improving architecture design, exploring emergent tech and ideas, and leveraging new technologies in interesting ways to deliver an app that is widely known the world over.

You will be responsible for driving the next generation of platforms serving the most essential Tinder workflows, including real-time client-server communications, stateful message delivery, user state and profile management, and more.

Where you’ll work:

This is a hybrid role and requires in-office collaboration twice per week. This position is located in Palo Alto, CA.

Our Values

One Team, One Dream: We work hand-in-hand, building Tinder for our members. We succeed together when we work collaboratively across functions, teams, and time zones, and think outside the box to achieve our company vision and mission
Own It: We take accountability and strive to make a positive impact in all aspects of our business, through ownership, innovation, and a commitment to excellence
Never Stop Learning: We cultivate a culture where it’s safe to take risks. We seek out input, share honest feedback, celebrate our wins, and learn from our mistakes in order to continue improving
Spark Solutions: We’re problem solvers, focusing on how to best move forward when faced with obstacles. We don’t dwell on the past or on the issues at hand, but instead look at how to stay agile and overcome hurdles to achieve our goals
Embrace Our Differences: We are intentional about building a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members. By leveraging different perspectives and other ways of thinking, we build better experiences for our members and our team

In this role, you will:

Architecture and Design: Take a lead role in designing the backend architecture of the system and designing A/B tests that modify the ranking algorithms, considering scalability, reliability, and performance requirements. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with overall system goals.
Development and Implementation: Write clean, efficient, and scalable code for the backend components of the system. Implement robust and optimized solutions to handle large volumes of data, high traffic loads, and concurrent requests.
Collaboration and Mentoring: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including ML engineers, product managers, and data scientists to ensure smooth integration and functionality across the system. Mentor and provide guidance to junior team members, sharing best practices and fostering their growth.
Troubleshooting: Investigate and resolve complex technical issues, including system failures, performance degradations, and bugs. Apply strong problem-solving skills and use appropriate debugging tools to identify root causes and implement effective solutions.
Documentation and Knowledge Sharing: Document architectural designs, system components, and deployment processes to ensure knowledge transfer and maintain system documentation up-to-date. Share knowledge and insights with the team through presentations, tech talks, and code reviews.

You’ll need:

Strong proficiency in Java programming language.
Experience with building RESTful APIs and integrating third-party APIs.
Understanding of microservices architecture and related technologies like message queues and service discovery
Expertise in developing backend applications using Spring Boot framework.
In-depth understanding of Spring concepts such as dependency injection, MVC architecture, and data access.
Proficient in working with databases, including NoSQL and SQL frameworks (e.g. DynamoDB and MySQL).
Experience with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack).

Nice to have:

Experience with search engines (Elasticsearch, Vespa, etc.), search/recommendation systems
Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS
Knowledge of caching mechanisms like Redis or Memcached.
Proficiency in DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and deployment automation
BS/MS in Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent work experience.

As a full-time employee, you’ll enjoy:

Unlimited PTO (with no waiting period), 10 annual Wellness Days
Time off to volunteer and charitable donations matched up to $15,000 annually
Comprehensive health, vision, and dental coverage
100% 401(k) employer match up to 10%, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
100% paid parental leave (including for non-birthing parents), family forming benefits, and Milk Stork, which provides access to breast milk shipping for business travel, surrogacy, and employee relocation
Investment in your development: mentorship through our MentorMatch program, access to 6,000+ online courses through Udemy, and an annual $3,000 stipend for your professional development
Investment in your wellness: access to mental health support via Modern Health, BetterHelp, and Insight Timer; paid concierge medical membership, pet insurance, fitness membership subsidy, and commuter subsidy
Free subscription to Tinder Gold

Salary Range:

$195,000

$215,000

a year

Factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, job-related skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and business considerations may influence base pay offered. This salary will be subject to a geographic adjustment (according to a specific city and state), if an authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.

We don’t just

accept

difference, we

celebrate

it

We strive to build a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members around the world, and we value unique perspectives and backgrounds. Even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications, we invite you to apply and show us how your skills could transfer. Tinder is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace where we welcome people of all sexes, gender identities, races, ethnicities, disabilities, and other lived experiences.

Learn more about inclusion at Tinder

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact employeebenefits@matchgroup.com.

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We don’t just

accept

difference, we

celebrate

it

Learn more about inclusion at Tinder

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please speak to your Talent Acquisition Partner directly.