Senior Backend Engineer (Java & PHP)

Chess.com is the world’s leading online chess platform, serving over 250 million users globally with tools for playing, learning, and engaging with the game. With a fully remote team across 60+ countries, the company combines gaming, content, and technology innovation. The Senior Backend Engineer will design and scale distributed systems, optimize backend services, and support high-performance infrastructure for a global user base.

Chess.com is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to design, build, and scale backend systems that support one of the largest gaming platforms in the world. This role focuses on developing distributed systems, optimizing performance, and ensuring reliability for a global user base.

Responsibilities:
- Design and implement scalable backend services using Java and PHP  
- Optimize application performance, database queries, and system architecture  
- Collaborate with engineering teams to define technical strategy and system design  
- Work with large datasets and ensure efficient data access patterns  
- Implement caching, logging, monitoring, and alerting systems  
- Contribute to architecture decisions and improve developer tools and workflows  

Requirements:
- Strong experience with Java and PHP in backend development  
- Proven experience designing and deploying distributed systems  
- Expertise in relational databases such as MySQL and NoSQL databases like MongoDB  
- Experience with Kafka, Redis, and cloud infrastructure  
- Strong understanding of system scalability, performance tuning, and data modeling  
- Experience working in distributed remote teams  

Benefits:
- Fully remote work environment  
- Opportunity to work on a global platform with millions of users  
- Collaborative and mission-driven team culture  
- Exposure to cutting-edge technologies in gaming and backend systems  

Chess.com offers a dynamic environment where engineers build scalable systems that power a global gaming community while continuously improving performance and user experience.