Software Engineer III

Lead Backend Engineer

Who we are

Perch Energy is a mission-driven company that focuses on expanding access to clean and affordable energy through community solar. Community solar breaks down the traditional barriers preventing most people from participating in the renewable energy economy by making it accessible, affordable, and more equitable for all. We work in several states across the US to bring community solar to communities and individuals who can most benefit from a more inclusive energy system. By managing the customer experience for solar farm owners, Perch is able to bring electricity bill savings to the masses, from renters and homeowners to businesses, institutions, municipalities and more by connecting them to community solar projects in their area. Perch isn't just a for-profit company, we're a for-purpose company—accelerating the shift to renewables nationwide. Everyone deserves to benefit from clean energy. Everyone has a place on this Perch!

What we’re looking for

We’re seeking a Lead Backend Engineer to join our Engineering team and help build scalable, reliable systems that power our platform. You are a collaborative, high-ownership engineer who enjoys solving complex backend problems and designing systems that stand the test of time.

You bring a long-term, systems-thinking mindset and are excited to work on software that expands renewable energy access to millions of households. Our domain operates in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, so we value engineers who are curious, adaptable, and comfortable navigating ambiguity—whether that means exploring new technical approaches, diving deep into data and edge cases, or collaborating cross-functionally to find the right solution.

This role is fully remote, based in India and offers the opportunity to meaningfully influence backend architecture, shape engineering best practices, and work with a mission-driven, high-performing team.

What you’ll own

As a Lead Backend Engineer, you will have clear ownership and accountability across the backend domain:

• Backend architecture ownership: Define, evolve, and document backend architecture and data models with a focus on scalability, performance, and reliability

• API ownership: Own the design and quality of GraphQL and backend APIs, including schema design, versioning strategy, and backward compatibility

• Technical decision-making: Lead design discussions, write technical proposals, evaluate trade-offs, and make decisions that balance speed with long-term system health

• Production ownership: Be accountable for backend services in production, including monitoring, incident response, root-cause analysis, and follow-through improvements

• Quality and standards: Establish and uphold backend engineering standards around testing, observability, security, documentation, and code quality

• Delivery ownership: Own backend deliverables end-to-end—from requirements and estimation to implementation, rollout, and iteration

• Cross-team alignment: Act as the primary backend point of contact for Product, Frontend, and other stakeholders on complex initiatives

• Mentorship and leverage: Multiply team impact by mentoring engineers, reviewing designs and code, and unblocking others

• Platform evolution: Proactively identify technical debt, scalability risks, and opportunities to simplify and harden the platform

What you’ll do

• Design and build scalable, resilient backend systems using Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL

• Lead backend implementation for complex features and integrations, including external systems such as Salesforce

• Own and evolve GraphQL services that power frontend and partner-facing applications

• Partner closely with frontend engineers to define clean, efficient backend–frontend contracts

• Improve system reliability through testing, monitoring, alerting, and operational best practices

• Ship production-ready code frequently using a modern CI/CD pipeline

• Review code and designs with a strong focus on maintainability, performance, and long-term impact

What will help you succeed

Experience & leadership

• 8+ years of experience building and operating high-availability backend systems

• Demonstrated experience leading backend initiatives and owning systems beyond individual features

• Strong fundamentals in system design, API design, and data modelling

• Ability to clearly communicate technical decisions and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders and actively represent backend engineering in key discussions calls during the IST collaboration window.

• Proven experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar of a team

• Comfort working in ambiguous problem spaces and iterating toward robust solutions

Backend & infrastructure

• Strong experience with Ruby and Ruby on Rails

• Experience designing and owning GraphQL APIs (Apollo or similar)

• Advanced SQL skills and experience with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases

• Hands-on experience with AWS services such as S3, SQS, SES, EventBridge, or similar cloud-native services.

• Containerization using Docker

• Exposure to distributed systems or platform engineering

• Familiarity with background jobs, async processing, and event-driven workflows

Bonus points for

• Experience integrating with Salesforce or other enterprise platforms

• Strong opinions (loosely held) on backend architecture, scalability, and system design

• Exposure to AI-assisted engineering—such as using modern AI tools for coding, debugging, testing, documentation, or exploring LLM-based workflows in backend systems

• Familiarity with observability and distributed tracing tools such as OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Prometheus, or similar

• Experience with container orchestration and deployment using Kubernetes and Helm charts

• Passion for sustainability, clean energy, and building mission-driven products

What success looks like in this role

• Backend systems scale reliably as usage, data volume, and complexity grow

• Engineers move faster due to clear APIs, architecture, and standards

• Production issues are identified early and resolved with lasting fixes

• Technical debt is addressed proactively rather than reactively

• The backend platform enables product teams instead of limiting them

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation based on market standards.

• Apart from Fixed Base Salary potential candidates are eligible for following benefits

• Flexible Leave Policy

• Office is in the heart of the city in case you need to step in for any purpose.

• Medical Insurance (1+5 Family Members)

• We provide comprehensive coverage including accident policy and life Insurance.

• Annual performance cycle

• Quarterly team engagement activities and rewards & recognitions

• L&D programs to foster professional growth

• A supportive engineering culture that values diversity, empathy, teamwork, trust, and efficiency

Eliminating carbon footprints, eliminating carbon copies. Here at Perch, we cultivate diversity, celebrate individuality, and believe unique perspectives are key to our collective success in creating a clean energy future. Perch is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. While we are currently unable to consider candidates who will require visa sponsorship, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates eligible to work in India. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request