Backend Developer

Description

Luca is shaping the future of education by establishing itself as the world’s fastest-growing K-12 EdTech startup. We recently closed our Series A round, raising $13M USD in funding backed by global funds including 6 Degrees Capital (UK), Heartcore (Denmark), and Shilling (Portugal), and assembled a top-tier team with experience from companies such as Uber, Morgan Stanley, Kavak, and Rappi. Luca is growing rapidly, and we continue to seek top talent to scale our operations. Founded in Portugal, with operations in Mexico and plans for expansion into other regions, we currently serve over 30,000 students through our hybrid educational solution. Luca has been recognized on several prominent global stages, including the GSV Cup (Top 3 EdTechs worldwide), HolonIQ (Top 100 EdTechs in LATAM), and Google for Startups (Global Recognition for Educational Innovation). We believe in operating as a high-performance team where every individual takes ownership of their outcomes and leads by example. We focus on solving problems with a practical mindset: we understand how things get done—and we execute them. We value close collaboration with our customers, because their needs guide our decisions. We foster loyalty and camaraderie, acting as a true team that supports one another during critical moments. Additionally, we integrate artificial intelligence into our daily workflows to amplify our impact and sustain continuous learning. Hybrid / Mexico City | Full-time We are seeking a Backend Developer with strong experience in TypeScript, GraphQL, and modern cloud-native architecture. If you care about clean system design, scalability, and want to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI tools like the OpenAI Agent SDK, this role is for you. Role Mission Design, build, and scale robust, secure, cloud-native backend systems that enable world-class educational experiences—efficiently integrating data, artificial intelligence, and product. This role is pivotal in ensuring Luca’s platform remains reliable, modular, and ready for rapid growth—empowering product, AI, and frontend teams to innovate swiftly and effectively for thousands of students and educators. What You’ll Do Backend & API Engineering * Build and maintain backend services in Node.js + TypeScript, applying clean architecture and Domain-Driven Design (DDD) where appropriate * Design and optimize GraphQL APIs using advanced authentication, reusable fragments, and decoupled resolvers * Integrate and manage Prisma ORM in multi-tenant environments with high concurrency Data & Storage * Design and optimize complex PostgreSQL schemas: indexes, materialized views, partitioning * Use Firebase Firestore for NoSQL with efficient modeling, access control, and indexing * Implement backup, replication, and data recovery strategies Cloud Infrastructure (GCP) * Deploy services on Cloud Run and Cloud Functions using Docker * Design event-driven pipelines with Pub/Sub, retries, and dead-letter topics * Configure routing, SSL certificates, domain management, and granular bucket policies * Implement secure communication using Secrets Manager, VPC connectors, and service-to-service authentication AI Integration with OpenAI * Build agent-based functions using the OpenAI Agent SDK * Design modular agent systems, advanced prompting strategies, and reasoning chains * Implement embeddings, context caching, and prompt validation pipelines What We’re Looking For * 5+ years of experience building modern backend systems * Residency in Mexico * Expertise in: * TypeScript (advanced types, decorators, composition) * Node.js (streams, clusters, profiling) * GraphQL (federation, batching, error masking) * Prisma (middlewares, raw queries, performance tuning) * PostgreSQL (execution plans, tuning, triggers) * Firestore and NoSQL modeling (indexes, TTL, batch consumption) * Pub/Sub and event-driven architectures * GCP (Cloud Run, Docker, routing, Secrets Manager) * OpenAI Agent SDK (agent composition, embeddings, prompting) * Design of asynchronous and decoupled systems * CI/CD with GitHub Actions, Cloud Build * Observability using Stackdriver / Cloud Logging We are a diverse and decentralized team based in CDMX (remote-friendly), mental-health friendly, and driven by the vision of becoming LATAM’s first educational unicorn. Salary: Starting at $30.00 per month Application Questions: * What is your salary expectation? * Would you be open to contracting under a service provision agreement? * How many years of total experience do you have as a Backend Developer using Node.js? Work Location: Remote