Sr. Software Engineer, Backend

About our company

Built on over four decades of pioneering research at Princeton University, our platform represents the leading edge of innovation in freight and transportation planning. We help customers unlock double-digit revenue gains and drive smarter, data-driven operations at scale.
With the recent close of our Series C funding round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, we’re entering an exciting new phase of growth. Today, Optimal Dynamics is a high-growth company of ~70 employees, backed by top-tier investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, The Westly Group, Activate Capital, and Koch.

We're on a mission to redefine the way logistics decisions are made—and we’re just getting started.

About our team

We are a team of bright, kind, and solution-oriented people focused on creating value for our customers. We can solve problems individually, but understand that the best solutions are found when the team brainstorms ideas together. We are excited about balancing the need to deploy new solutions quickly and designing solutions that are secured, reliable, maintainable and scalable for the long run.

Role Overview

We're looking for a talented Senior Backend Software Engineer to join our growing Partner Integrations and Data Engineering  teams and help shape the future of intelligent transportation logistics technology.

At Optimal Dynamics, you'll work with Python, Django, React, and Terraform to build and scale our cutting-edge platform. As a core contributor, you'll have the opportunity to influence both the technical direction and product strategy, playing a pivotal role in the development of our next-generation solutions.

This is a full-time, remote-friendly position open to candidates across the United States. For those who prefer an in-person experience, our headquarters in New York City offers a collaborative office environment.

Ready to make an impact? Join us and help redefine the logistics industry!

What you will do

• Work with Product Managers, Data Scientists and other Software Engineers, to design, develop, improve and extend our domain models, data infrastructure, data frameworks, data pipelines, and data tools.
• Interact with customers and technology partners to understand their data models, and devise and implement automated solutions to ingest their data into Optimal Dynamics domain models.
• Lead by example to improve the quality, efficiency, cost, scalability, stability, and security of all the sub-components and subsystems of the Optimal Dynamics data platform.
• Embrace the dynamic startup environment—wear multiple hats, tackle new challenges, and contribute wherever needed to fuel our growth!

Who you are

• BSc or MSc degree in Computer Science or equivalent technical experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python 3
• Practical experience with Django
• Hands-on experience with major cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Expertise in relational databases, including Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, or similar technologies.
• Hands-on data and software engineering experience designing, building and maintaining data infrastructure, frameworks, pipelines and tools for sophisticated domain models.

Nice to have (Bonus Points)

• Experience with transportation systems (e.g., TMS, ELD) or scientific/analytics applications is a significant advantage.
• Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform.
• Experience with Apache Kafka for building scalable, event-driven architectures.
• Experience with Apache Airflow for managing and orchestrating data workflows.
• Familiarity with modern data tools such as dbt and DuckDB is highly valued.
• Experience with monorepo management tools (e.g., Bazel, Buck) is a plus.

About our tech stack and development practices

At Optimal Dynamics, our entire infrastructure runs on Amazon AWS, leveraging a wide range of services including DynamoDB, Aurora, SSM, and SQS to power our intelligent logistics platform.

Our tech stack includes:

• Backend & AI: Python 3 and Java
• Frontend: JavaScript/TypeScript for our web-based SPA
• Data Stack: Trino, Dagster, dbt, DuckDB, and Preset

We follow modern development best practices with all code stored on GitHub. Every pull request undergoes thorough code reviews, is fully unit tested, and deployed through our CI/CD pipeline for continuous quality assurance.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including Series C level equity
• Health / Dental / Vision 100% covered for employee and 50% for dependents
• Life Insurance, with optional supplemental insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• 401(k) with match
• Unlimited PTO (vacation, personal days, sick days, jury duty, military leave, bereavement)
• 11 Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave for all employees
• Short-term and Long-term Disability Insurances, and AD&D Insurance
• Fitness membership reimbursement
• Commuter benefits

Optimal Dynamics is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace with equal opportunity for all applicants and employees. Our goal is to recruit the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool regardless of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex (including pregnancy), age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Optimal Dynamics is committed to working with and providing access and reasonable accommodation to applicants. If you require an accommodation, please reach out to careers@optimaldynamics.com once you've begun the interview process. All requests for accommodations are treated discreetly and confidentially, as practical and permitted by law.