Senior Software Engineer - GCP Developer
- Equity Partner -
Location: Remote (United States/Canada)
Commitment: Minimum 20 hrs/week
Anime Universe is an early stage startup in the building and fundraising phase.
Compensation:
- No upfront cash
- "Sweat Equity": Equity (shares) + future token-based rewards (pending legal clearance)
- Salary unlocked by revenue milestones
- Remote-first, async-native, autonomy-rich team
What You Put In Is What You Get Out
At Anime Universe , infrastructure is not a support function—it’s a core enabler of the product itself . As a Senior Software Engineer (GCP-focused) , you will design and build the applications , systems , and services that power an intelligent, scalable creative platform.
Why This Role Matters
This is a software engineering role at its core.
You’ll architect and implement cloud-native services, data-driven features, and scalable backend systems that bring our creative universe to life.
You will:
- Build application logic, APIs, and services that run on GCP.
- Shape the foundational architecture that supports real-time creativity, analytics, and future AI systems.
- Partner closely with product, data, and AI teams to turn ideas into production-ready software.
Your work is the backbone of how we deliver magic to users.
What You’ll Do
Build Cloud-Native Applications
- Develop microservices, APIs, backend components, and data-intensive features using GCP-native compute options like Cloud Run, GKE, and Cloud Functions.
- Write clean, scalable software using Python (or another backend language), with strong emphasis on modularity, maintainability, and performance.
Design & Implement GCP-Based Architectures
- Architect services using Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Firestore, Cloud SQL, and VPC networking.
- Make key decisions around system design, data modeling, and service boundaries.
Develop Data-Driven Features
- Build application logic that consumes real-time and batch data pipelines.
- Integrate with BigQuery, Dataflow, and Pub/Sub to power analytics, personalization, and content systems.
Build for Scale, Reliability & Developer Velocity
- Use CI/CD and IaC (Cloud Build, Terraform) to support the software you write—without being a dedicated DevOps engineer.
- Prioritize automation that supports fast iteration and high service quality.
Collaborate Across the Product
- Work with architects, designers, and AI engineers to ship product features end-to-end.
- Help define best practices for cloud-native software development internally.
(Bonus) AI/ML Enablement
- Integrate applications with Vertex AI components or internal ML systems.
- Experience with LangChain or generative AI is helpful but not required.
What You Bring
Software Engineering First
- 4+ years of professional software development experience
- Strong expertise with Python (or equivalent backend languages), distributed systems, and API development
- Experience developing production services on Google Cloud Platform
Deep GCP Knowledge (but applied through software engineering)
- Proficiency with:
- Cloud Run / GKE
- BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub
- Cloud SQL / Firestore
- IAM, VPC networking
- Experience designing scalable cloud architectures
- Strong familiarity with containerization and CI/CD workflows (Docker, Cloud Build, GitHub Actions)
Other Strengths
- Solid understanding of cloud security, monitoring, and performance tuning
- Terraform experience (for managing the resources your services rely on)
- Cloud certifications (Professional Cloud Architect/Developer/Data Engineer) are a plus
- A builder’s mindset—practical, iterative, and product-focused
Success Metrics
- Production-ready services delivered quickly and reliably
- Well-architected systems that scale with usage
- Fast deployment cycles and high engineering throughput
- Efficient, cost-conscious use of GCP resources
- New features (data-driven or AI-driven) enabled through your architectures
Compensation & Culture
- Equity: Role-based equity package
- Token Rewards: Potential based on contribution and compliance clearance
- Salary: Equity-first; salary unlocks via company revenue milestones
- Culture: Remote-first, async-native, and high-trust engineering environment