Staff Software Engineer

About Tin Can

Tin Can is building a safer, simpler way for kids to connect — without smartphones. We’re creating screen-free, delightful devices and services that let families call the people who matter most, free from the noise of today’s digital world.

We’re building a bold, authentic, nostalgic, and kinda quirky brand that resonates with folks who want something simpler & better for their kids than the tech-infused lives we’re currently living (and who have a sense of humor about it). As we gear up to scale to thousands of families, we’re ready to bring on an engineer to help make it happen.

The Role

We're looking for a Staff Engineer to be the technical backbone of the Tin Can platform as we scale. This isn't a role where you wait to be pointed at problems: you find them, frame them, and drive the solution. You'll set the architectural direction for our backend and platform systems, raise the technical bar across the team, and make the hard calls on tradeoffs that will shape how Tin Can grows. You're already building with tools most teams are still evaluating.

You'll work closely with our Head of Engineering and the rest of the team — and you'll be the person they turn to when something is ambiguous, complex, or high stakes. You're primarily a backend and platform engineer, but you have enough range to give credible guidance across the stack. You code, but you also partner with AI to write more of it, faster.

This is a high-trust role for someone who's done this before, someone who knows what good looks like and can bring a small team along with them. You don't need to manage people to lead them.

What You'll Do

• Own architectural decisions for our backend and platform systems

• Set the technical direction and standards the rest of the engineering team builds against

• Drive the hardest, most cross-cutting problems that don't fit neatly into one lane

• Identify and address technical debt that threatens our ability to scale or ship

• Partner with the Head of Engineering on sequencing, tradeoffs, and what to build next

• Give credible technical guidance across the stack without needing to own all of it

• Ensure everything we build is secure, observable, and designed with the families we serve in mind

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of backend and platform engineering, with clear examples of setting technical direction

• Experience with IoT systems: device provisioning, firmware management, or real-time data pipelines

• Deep fluency in Node.js and TypeScript; comfortable owning AWS infrastructure

• You've seen scale and know which problems actually matter at each stage

• Strong architectural instincts: you've made hard calls, lived and learned

• You actively shape how your team uses AI, not just how you use it yourself

• You're at the frontier: agentic workflows, AI-assisted architecture, tools most teams haven't adopted yet

• You write code regularly and expect to keep doing so

• Collaborative and low-ego: you lead through clarity and track record, not authority

Why Join Tin Can

• We're building tech that protects childhood: We're on a quest to give kids a more analog childhood — one with real conversations, real connection, and way less screen time. No doomscrolling, data mining, or dopamine traps — just a simpler, better way for kids to stay in touch. This is a rare opportunity to build something that truly matters.

• You'll shape how we scale: This is the role for an engineer who wants their architectural decisions to actually matter — not get lost in process or committee. You'll have the trust and access to drive real technical change with the full backing of the founding team.

• Small, high-trust team: Every company says "team," but at Tin Can it means something different. We're a small, mission-driven group that genuinely has each other's backs — professionally and personally. You'll be joining a tight-knit crew where your ideas and instincts matter from day one.

• Room to explore, not just execute: You'll have the space to challenge assumptions, solve hard problems, and build systems that reflect our values of trust, simplicity, and care.

If you're excited by the idea of taking a solid technical foundation and scaling it to support thousands of families — while making it more reliable, secure, and resilient along the way — we'd love to meet you.