Backend Engineer
Scribe
San Francisco, CA · $140k–$165k a year · Posted August 20, 2026
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Where San Francisco, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for security jobs316 openings · of 20
- #1Best cities for technology jobs7,178 openings · of 100
- #1Best cities for financial services pay after cost of living$173k · of 33
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills35% · of 100
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills in the West Coast35% · of 54
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the West Coast902 jobs · of 47
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Skills this job asks for
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About the job
About Scribe
Scribe https://scribe.com is where exceptional people come to do the best work of their careers. More than 94% of the Fortune 500 use Scribe to own their specialized intelligence: the unique way their teams work, decide, and get things done. Our Specialized Intelligence platform automatically captures how work happens and turns it into a living asset for people and AI agents.
We're growing fast. Since our founding in 2019, we've reached 7 million users across 600,000 businesses. Based in San Francisco, we're a LinkedIn Top Startup, valued at over $1B, and backed by leading investors. Join us in our mission to transform how people work.
About the role
As a Backend Software Engineer, you'll ship well-scoped backend work across these core systems, building technical judgment alongside an experienced team while contributing to both existing product surfaces and new, greenfield projects.
- Agents – AI assistants and in-app guidance that help people finish tasks inside the software they use, including a new desktop AI work hub
- Docs – Our core product for automated document generation and viewing, relied on by millions of users
- Growth – Signup, onboarding, checkout, billing, seats and SSO, helping people find Scribe, see its value fast, and grow their plan
- Optimize – The AI-driven intelligence layer that helps enterprises understand, measure and improve how work gets done, turning raw activity into workflow data leaders can trust
What you'll do
- Build and ship backend features in our Django monolith, spanning core document workflows (viewing, editing, embeds, exports) as well as new greenfield projects that expand what Scribe can do
- Improve performance and reliability by optimizing database queries, endpoints, and caching layers in well-scoped areas
- Collaborate with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver intuitive and reliable experiences at scale
- Incorporate feedback from teammates to continuously grow your craft
- Write thoughtful code reviews, solid tests, and pay attention to observability and performance in your work
What we're looking for
- You have 3+ years of experience building backend applications
- You have solid experience with Python
- You can optimize endpoint performance and database queries in code you own
- You’re a strong advocate for automated testing
- You're familiar with engineering best practices and eager to deepen them
- You’re user-centric, empathetic, and passionate about your work
- Nice to have
- Experience with Django (not required, but a big plus)
- Startup experience (not required, but we build and move fast!)
Our backend tech stack
- Python + Django
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Celery + AmazonMQ
- Infrastructure in Terraform (AWS)
Why you'll love working here
- Hard, open problems. Nobody hands you a finished spec. You'll decide what to build with your PM and designer, then own how it performs.
- The reach of a unicorn, the headcount of a startup. We went from $1M to $100M ARR in under four years, with fewer than 200 people. That means more pie than people: scope grows with your impact. Customers like T-Mobile, LinkedIn, HubSpot, New York Life and Northern Trust run on Scribe, so what you own reaches some of the biggest names in business.
- Smart is the floor. Kind is the bar. Low ego, high standards. We compete as a collective and love to see each other win, and One Team, One Dream is one of the most shouted-out values in #values.
Compensation & location
Hybrid, based in San Francisco. We work from the office 3 days per week, with Mondays and Wednesdays being anchor days.
All full-time employees receive equity in Scribe. Final offers depend on experience and scope.
Benefits
- Healthcare Coverage – Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, including two $0/month medical plan options for employees
- Equity – Ownership in what we're building
- 401(k) Plan – through Vestwell
- Flex Benefit – $500/year for home office equipment, productivity tools, learning & development or fitness/wellness
- Commuter Benefits – $100/month for SF based employees
- PTO – Flexible paid time off and company holidays
- Parental Leave – Paid leave to support growing families
- Wellness & Family Support – Free Talkspace membership, One Medical access (location-dependent), and Kindbody discounts for family planning
Engineers, show don’t tell. Skip the button and send a POST to https://apply.scribe.com with full_name, email, github_url, and resume_url in the json body. Prefer the button? It works great too.
At Scribe, we celebrate our differences and are committed to creating a workplace where all employees feel supported and empowered to do their best work. Scribe is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Our Worker Privacy notice can be found here https://scribe.com/legal/worker-privacy.