Software Developer (Backend Services)

About Foursquare

Foursquare is the leading independent location technology and data cloud platform, helping businesses connect the digital and physical worlds with precision and purpose. Our products power everything from market analytics to targeted experiences, relied on by some of the world’s most iconic brands.

But what makes Foursquare truly special is how we work. We're a team of builders, problem-solvers, and collaborators who care deeply about impact – both in the products we ship and the way we show up for each other. Great outcomes come from strong collaboration and shared ownership, and we believe growth happens through real challenges – whether that’s leveling up a skill, tackling unfamiliar problems, or pushing a project forward in a new way. If you're excited by cutting-edge tech and a culture that values both autonomy and teamwork, you’ll thrive here.

About the team

We are looking for a Full-Stack Software Developer to join the Places team, which builds our Places dataset, the backbone of our product offerings. We own and iterate on the core building blocks of our customer and Open Source Places Product offering, which lays the foundation for Fourquare’s other products and services.

About the position

Foursquare is looking for a Software Developer (Backend Services) to join our team in our New York office; on a hybrid schedule of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in office.

We are looking for an experienced Backend Services Software Developer to join the Places team, which builds our Places dataset, the backbone of our product offerings, as well as developing and maintaining our suite of APIs and SDKs. We own and iterate on the core building blocks of our customer and Open Source Places Product offerings, which lay the foundation for Fourquare’s other products and services.

As a Software Developer (Backend Services), you’ll design and build high-scale, low-latency backend systems that power the company’s core Places dataset and APIs, supporting both consumer products and external developers. The role involves working closely with infrastructure teams to ensure service reliability, as well as collaborating with data scientists to deploy machine learning models that balance accuracy, speed, and scalability. Ideal candidates are detail-oriented, curious, and passionate about building robust, maintainable systems and writing high-quality code with strong test coverage.

Our engineering organization has transitioned to a performance system that prioritizes experience, skills, and impact over traditional hierarchy. By simplifying titles and focusing on market-based levels, we aim to cultivate a high-performing, team-based environment where collaboration and innovation are at the heart of everything we do. While our titles no longer include conventional levels like 'Senior' or 'Director,' we expect all members of our Engineering organization to embrace principled thinking and truth-seeking as we work together to pursue the best ideas and solutions for our business.

We understand that this philosophy may not be for everyone, but we'd love for you to apply if this collaborative way of working resonates with you.

Responsibilities of the role:

• Build and maintain backend APIs and systems for low-latency, large-scale applications
• Design real-time data storage and retrieval systems to support user-facing features
• Ensure high availability and performance of services through testing, monitoring, and optimization
• Collaborate with data scientists to integrate and productionize machine learning models
• Apply best practices in software quality, testing, and CI/CD
• Work cross-functionally with product, data, and engineering teams to define and deliver impactful features
• Translate complex technical and product requirements into clear, actionable engineering work

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field
• 3+ years of experience in software development, working with production-level code
• Proficiency in Scala or in another JVM language and willingness to learn Scala
• Experience with relational or document-oriented database systems (experience with MongoDB is a plus)
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Self-driven with strong communication skills and desire for collaboration
• We're looking for someone with proven experience aligning most closely to a L3
• Your own unique talents! If you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications outlined above, we encourage and welcome you to still apply!

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