Lead Software Engineer

Backblaze is the object storage leader in the open cloud movement, fueling customer success with cloud storage built purposefully to unlock budgets, unburden administrators, and unleash innovators. Together with our partners, we’re helping customers break free from the restrictive, overpriced legacy solutions that hold them back, and blaze forward with the full power of the open cloud in their hands.

Founded in 2007, we scaled the business with less than $3 million in outside funding until 2021, when we did a traditional IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Today, Backblaze generates over $100m in revenue and is the leading specialized storage cloud - managing over three billion gigabytes of data storage for 500K+ customers in 175+ countries, including businesses, developers, IT professionals, and individuals.

You will work on our storage platform which supports the B2 Object Storage and Computer Backup products, responsible for reliably storing the customer data. You will develop host-managed SMR support for the storage platform, optimizing for throughput and costs.

Responsibilities:

• Lead technical design discussions and produce clear design documents
• Drive the implementation on large features
• Shape coding methodologies and best practices
• Define

The Right Fit:

• 10+ years of OOP (Java, Rust, C++, C#, etc) in an enterprise environment, with a heavy focus on backend development
• Experience building host-managed SMR support for storage systems
• Experience benchmarking IO performance and resolving bottlenecks
• Experience building large scale software systems running on thousands of servers
• Professional experience incorporating AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Gemini, Cursor, Claude Code)
• Comfortable with all aspects of the software development lifecycle, including design, implementation, testing, and rollout
• Exhibits curiosity and seeks to understand before offering solutions
• Communicates proactively in a remote environment by keeping the team informed, surfacing blockers early, and moving work forward
• Applies analytical thinking to ambiguous problems

Bonus points for:

• Experience with discovering and implementing performance improvements, including CPU and IO
• Familiarity with hard drive performance and optimization
• Experience building and interpreting models, dashboards, or reports
• Understanding of Linux internals and file systems

Required for all Backblaze Employees:

• Good attitude and willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done
• Strong desire to work for a small, fast-paced company
• Desire to learn and adapt to rapidly changing technologies and work environment
• Rigorous adherence to best practices
• Relentless attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal skills and good oral/written communication
• Excellent troubleshooting and problem solving skills
• This position is located in San Mateo, California but will also consider remote work as long as you're no more than three time zones away and can come to San Mateo now and then.

Backblaze Perks:

• Healthcare for family, including dental and vision
• Competitive compensation and 401K
• RSU grants for full-time employees
• ESPP program
• Flexible vacation policy
• Maternity & paternity leave
• MacBook Pro to use for work plus a generous stipend to personalize your workstation
• Childcare bonus (human children only)
• Fertility treatment and support
• Learning & development program
• Commuter benefits
• Culture that supports a healthy work-life balance

To provide greater transparency to candidates, we share base pay ranges for all US-based job postings regardless of state. We set standard base pay ranges for all roles based on function, level, and country location, benchmarked against similar-stage growth companies. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including candidate location, skills, depth of work experience, and relevant licenses/credentials, and may vary from the amounts listed below.

The base pay range for this position is:

• Non-Bay: $205,000 - $230,000
• Bay Area: $245,000 - $265,000