About UNISON

UNISON is a small team of passionate people from companies like Meta, Sony, and Apple, as well as research labs like the IARAI. Based in the SF Bay Area and backed by some of the world’s best investors, we're working hard to create products we would proudly recommend to our friends and family.

We are building a unified reality headset that allows users to plunge into and resurface from virtual worlds with newfound value. We see living between virtual and physical worlds as a tool for creating, storytelling, and sharing—not hindering your total lived experience. You can learn more about our product, team, careers, and worldviews at unison.co.

About the Role:

Our early-stage team is seeking a Backend Architect to lead the architecture and development of our online collaborative platform's backend infrastructure. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in designing and implementing scalable, high-performance backend systems that support real-time interaction and collaboration. This role involves a mix of strategic planning, technology selection, and hands-on development, ensuring our platform can seamlessly support dynamic user interactions within collaborative sessions.

Your Responsibilities:

• Architect and develop a scalable, secure, and efficient backend infrastructure for real-time online collaboration, focusing on optimizing performance and user experience.

• Design and implement robust authentication and authorization services to secure user data and ensure privacy.

• Oversee the implementation of database solutions and data management strategies that ensure fast, reliable access to data across distributed environments.

• Design and implement real-time communication protocols and services, facilitating seamless user collaboration and interaction.

• Collaborate with web front-end and client developers to ensure efficient, reliable integration between the client-side application and server-side services.

• Stay abreast of emerging technologies and architectural patterns that could enhance platform performance, scalability, and functionality.

• Ensure compliance with security best practices and data protection laws.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the development team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

Your Qualifications:

• 10+ years of overall backend development experience. 

• 5+ years of proven experience as a Backend Architect or in a similar role, with a strong portfolio of scalable, high-performance backend systems.

• Expertise in server-side languages (e.g., Go, Node.js, Python, PHP) and frameworks relevant to real-time communication and web services development.

• Experience with database design and management, including both SQL and NoSQL technologies.

• Familiarity in storage of 3-dimensional data in the backend.

• Knowledge of authentication, security protocols, and data encryption techniques.

• Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) and their application to scalable backend architectures.

• Strong distributed debugging skills. 

• Excellent problem-solving skills, with a creative and analytical approach to architecture design and development.

• Strong leadership qualities and experience managing or leading development teams.

• Effective problem-solving abilities and capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.

• Excellent communication skills for clear documentation and technical explanations.

• Ability to travel, as required, up to 10%.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with debugging C++ for low-latency operations.

• Applied Linear Algebra for 3D applications, familiarity with 3D concepts.

Why UNISON?

UNISON offers competitive salaries and equity packages, giving all employees an ownership stake in what we're working hard to build. You will also receive flexible PTO, 401k with employer matching, excellent 100% employer-paid health benefits, and more.

We are growing quickly, so if you’re interested in joining us but don’t see a job that fits what you’re looking for or if your experience doesn’t quite meet the criteria, please feel free to reach out at [email protected]. We are happy to connect.

UNISON is committed to equity in our hiring practices. If you think you may require an accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, please send a request to: [email protected]. All requests for accommodations are treated discreetly and confidentially, as practical, and permitted by law.

At UNISON, we are committed to mitigating bias and providing an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all qualified applicants and teammates based solely on business needs and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, national, social or ethnic origin, religion, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), ancestry, age, physical and mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, marital/familial status, citizenship status, military/veteran status, and any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws.