Senior Backend Engineer

Who we are at Osmo:

Osmo is a digital olfaction company, on a mission to give computers a sense of smell to improve the health and wellbeing of human life. Why? Our sense of smell both enriches and saves lives, and has a deep and direct connection to our emotions and memory.

Olfactory Intelligence has applications across industries including fragrance, manufacturing, security, medicine, and more. We believe in the power of automation and thoughtfully applied AI/ML to solve problems beyond the reach of human intuition alone. Osmo is headquartered in New York, NY, with a new facility in New Jersey, and offices in Somerville, MA.

Osmo is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer with deep expertise in distributed systems architecture to join our Software team. The ideal candidate has experience building robust, scalable systems that bring our Olfactory Intelligence to life.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and scale high-performance backend systems and APIs that power real-world products.

• Evolve service architectures for scalability, reliability, and maintainability, balancing speed with technical excellence.

• Lead design reviews and shape architectural decisions that define the long-term health of our systems.

• Mentor engineers, raise the technical bar, and foster a culture of quality and collaboration.

• Own services end-to-end, from design and implementation to deployment, observability, and optimization.

• Drive meaningful impact by connecting strong engineering fundamentals with clear business and product outcomes.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience designing, building, and operating scalable backend systems and distributed architectures.

• Deep understanding of system design, performance optimization, and fault tolerance.

• Fluency in Python, with expertise in RESTful API design, frontend integration patterns, and data storage systems (e.g., BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL).

• Experience deploying and maintaining systems on cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS).

• Track record of leading complex initiatives and shaping technical direction across teams.

• Product-minded and pragmatic, balancing long-term architecture with fast, high-quality delivery.

• Excellent communicator who can bridge technical and non-technical audiences.

Ways to stand out

• Experience building and integrating with third-party Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and external data sources.

• Ability to collaborate across backend, data, and frontend domains to deliver cohesive systems.

• Interest in olfaction and the technical challenges of representing complex real-world phenomena in code.

Salary Range: 160K - 190K annually

Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K, and more.

If this role inspires you we’d encourage you to apply. We are committed to recruiting, developing, and retaining an incredible team optimized for a diversity of thought, background, and approaches.

Base salary is just one component of Osmo’s total rewards package, which is designed to support the well-being, growth, and long-term success of our team members. Our comprehensive package includes health, dental, and vision coverage; a 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match; flexible paid time off and company holidays; and equity or incentive compensation for eligible roles. Actual compensation will vary based on factors such as experience, skills, location, internal equity, and other relevant business considerations. Osmo regularly reviews pay ranges to ensure they remain competitive, equitable, and aligned with current market data.

All employment decisions and responsibilities are determined based on current ability and your ability to grow, without regard to race, color, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, physical, mental, or sensory disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Osmo does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Osmo or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Osmo Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Osmo and Osmo will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire