Staff Back End Engineer (Data Platform)

Forma.ai is a Series B startup that's revolutionizing how sales compensation is designed, managed and optimized. We handle billions in annual managed commissions for market leaders like Edmentum, Stryker, and Autodesk. 

Our growth has been fuelled by our passion for fundamentally changing and shaping how companies use sales intelligence to drive business strategy.  

We’re welcoming equally driven individuals who are excited about creating something big! 

Engineers on this team construct our rules-based calculating engine for processing sales commissions. This might sound simple if you have never been exposed to sales comp plans, it is not! We are low on meetings, high on accountability. Most of the team are in EST time zone but we have a few located in PST and Central as well. We are far from maintenance / progressive evolution in many areas, there is a lot of room to make a big impact in the overall design.

Reporting to the Manager of Data Platform, you will play a critical role in the evolution of our Spark based data platform. You'll lead development efforts for our complex, data-rich platform features while being an example to the team of code quality and thoughtful software design. You will be working on the most challenging code at Forma.

As a Staff Engineer, you are expected to operate with a high degree of ownership and trust. This includes proactively identifying architectural risks, surfacing edge cases or constraints others may not see, and advocating for improvements that strengthen the long-term integrity of the system. We value engineers who bring forward thoughtful perspectives - even when they challenge assumptions - and who help the team see around corners.

• Design and evolve backend services that power product workflows.
• Architect data models representing hierarchical & graph structures, relationships, and large-scale enterprise datasets.
• Build deterministic, reliable systems that allow customers to reason clearly about their data.
• Drive architectural decisions that balance extensibility, performance, and operational simplicity.
• Improve observability, testing strategy, and production reliability across backend services.
• Partner closely with Product to translate nuanced business requirements into clean, scalable designs.
• Mentor engineers across levels and help raise the bar for backend engineering standards.
• Use, and demonstrate using, AI tooling to improve implementation velocity while thoughtfully investing in technical and product specifications

• Significant experience designing and building complex backend systems in production environments.
• Demonstrated ability to surface unarticulated risks, propose alternative approaches, and advocate for architectural improvements with sound technical reasoning.
• Expertise in at least one production-grade backend language (e.g., Python, Java, Kotlin, Go, C#, etc.).
• Strong foundation in relational schema design, data modelling, and SQL.
• Background working with Spark, or other ETL tools / frameworks
• Experience working with hierarchical, graph-like, or relationship-heavy data structures.
• Familiarity with graph databases or graph-based modelling concepts is a strong plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A track record of improving scalability, reliability, and observability in distributed or data-intensive systems.
• A desire to influence architecture and product direction - not just implement tickets.
• Thrive in a collaborative, detail-oriented environment across Engineering, Product, and Analytics.

• Experience building SaaS products serving mid-market or enterprise customers.
• Experience building rule-driven systems, validation workflows, or approval/governance platforms.
• Familiarity with AWS-based infrastructure and Kubernetes.
• Exposure to Sales Performance Management (SPM), RevOps, Incentive Compensation (ICM), or related domains. ****

• Work well, together. We’re real. We have kids and pets. Mortgages and student loans. We’re in this together, so no matter how brilliant any one of us is, we always play nice with one another – no exceptions. 
• Be precise. Be relentless. We believe complacency breeds failure, so we set new goals as quickly as we achieve them. We persist in the face of adversity, learn from our mistakes, and push each other to continuously improve. The status-quo is kryptonite.
• Love our tech. Love our customers. Our platform solves a very complex problem in a currently underserved market. While everyone at Forma isn’t customer-facing, we’re all customer-focused. Maybe even slightly customer-obsessed. ­ 

Currently, Forma.ai does not use artificial intelligence as part of our recruitment process, specifically but not limited to the screening, filtering and shortlisting of applicants.  

Forma is a proud equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. Every effort to accommodate candidates for accessibility will be made upon request. Information received related to accommodations will be addressed confidentially. We know that applying to a new role takes a lot of effort. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. There are many paths to a successful career and we’re looking forward to reading yours.

We thank all candidates for their interest however only qualified applicants will be shortlisted.