About Engineering at Fonoa

Engineering is central to how we build the business. We focus on solving real customer problems, not just shipping features. We work in small, high-trust teams, with full ownership across the lifecycle, from design to production and beyond.

We value:

Ownership – engineers own what they build end-to-end
Simplicity – we break down complex problems into clear solutions
Thinking Big - we innovate with modern technologies (LLMs, AI Agents, etc.) to solve meaningful problems
Quality – scalable, maintainable systems are non-negotiable
Speed & iteration – we ship fast, learn, and improve continuously
Collaboration – we win as a team, not as individuals

Position Overview

As a Staff Engineer, your role is to improve the system as a whole, both technically and organizationally.

You will work on ambiguous, high-impact problems, shape technical direction across teams, and help others build better systems. Your impact comes less from the code you write, and more from how you influence decisions, design, and execution at scale.

What You Will Do

Take ownership of complex, cross-team problems that are not clearly defined
Define technical direction and drive system design across domains
Identify and address systemic issues and opportunities early
Simplify complexity through better architecture, patterns, and structure
Improve how teams build by raising standards, tooling, and practices
Mentor engineers and contribute to hiring and team growth
Ensure systems are reliable, scalable, and built for long-term evolution

What Good Looks Like

You focus on high-leverage problems and shape how they are approached
You create clarity in ambiguous situations and align teams around it
You improve not just code, but how teams design and build systems
You make others more effective through guidance, feedback, and direction
You operate with long-term thinking, balancing today’s needs with future scale
You adopt emerging AI technologies and create a culture of innovation in your teams

At this level, you are expected to “make the whole system, and the people in it, better.”

What We’re Looking For

Strong experience designing and operating scalable backend systems
Proven ability to work on ambiguous, high-impact problems
Track record of influencing technical decisions beyond your team
Ability to balance speed, quality, and long-term maintainability
Experience mentoring engineers and improving team practices
Fostering a culture of curiosity and experimentation

API Documentation

For engineers, API design and structure are an important part of evaluating a role. You can explore our API and how we build products here: https://docs.fonoa.com/

Tech Stack

We use these technologies today, but we don’t hire for specific tools. We care about engineers who can understand problems, make good technical decisions, and choose the right tools for the job.

Backend: Node.js, Go
Frontend: React, TypeScript
Infrastructure: GCP, k8s, Terraform, Postgres

Note:
If you don’t think you have the full experience we’re looking for, but you could be a fit and are willing to learn, do apply anyway! We are building a diverse and inclusive team.

As part of the recruitment process at Fonoa, we process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice for Job Applicants. This notice explains how and why your data is collected and used, and how you can contact us if you have any concerns.