---
title: 'Sr. Software Engineer, Backend at Pinterest'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-software-engineer-backend-pinterest-toronto-76c603rbgw2m'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Sr. Software Engineer, Backend at Pinterest

- **Company:** Pinterest
- **Location:** Toronto, Canada
- **Posted:** 2023-12-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://www.pinterestcareers.com/jobs/?gh_jid=5572858

## Job description

About Pinterest:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the [flexibility](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/our-life/pinflex/) to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process [here](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/our-philosophy-on-ai-in-hiring/).

We are looking for inquisitive, well-rounded Senior Full-Stack and Backend engineers to join our Monetization and Core engineering teams. Working closely with product managers, designers, and backend engineers, you’ll play an important role in enabling the newest technologies and experiences. You will build robust frameworks & features. You will empower both developers and Pinners alike. You’ll have the opportunity to find creative solutions to thought-provoking problems. Even better, because we covet the kind of courageous thinking that’s required in order for big bets and smart risks to pay off, you’ll be invited to create and drive new initiatives, seeing them from inception through to technical design, implementation, and release.

We have several positions open across multiple teams, including opportunities on both the Product and Platform side of Pinterest.

What you’ll do:

- Build out the backend for Pinner-facing features to power the future of inspiration on Pinterest
- Contribute to and lead each step of the product development process, from ideation to implementation to release; from rapidly prototyping, running A/B tests, to architecting and building solutions that can scale to support millions of users
- Partner with design, product, and backend teams to build end-to-end functionality
- Put on your Pinner hat to suggest new product ideas and features
- Employ automated testing to build features with a high degree of technical quality, taking responsibility for the components and features you develop
- Grow as an engineer by working with world-class peers on varied and high impact projects
- Design, develop, and operate large scale, distributed systems and networks
- Work with Engineering customers to understand new requirements and address them in a scalable and efficient manner
- Actively work to improve the developer process and experience in all phases from coding to operation
- Leverage AI to seek faster execution (i.e. draft, prototype, outline) and explore alternative options (i.e. iterate, compare approaches)
- Leverage AI to synthesize information (summarize, distill themes) and automate repeatable tasks (documentation, reporting, QA checks)

What we’re looking for:

- 5+ years of industry backend development experience, building consumer or business facing products
- Proficiency in common backend tech stacks for RESTful API, online service, storage, caching and data processing
- Experience in following best practices in writing reliable and maintainable code that may be used by many other engineers
- Ability to keep up-to-date with new technologies to understand what should be incorporated
- Strong collaboration and communication skills
- Experience leading or owning projects, mentoring others, or driving technical thought leadership
- Experience building & operating large scale distributed systems and/or networks. Bonus points if you enjoy deploying and operating large scale workloads on a public cloud footprint
- Experience in Python, Java, C++, or Go or another language and a willingness to learn
- Demonstrated ability to use AI to improve speed and quality in your day-to-day workflow for relevant outputs.
- Strong track record of critical evaluation and verification of AI-assisted work (e.g., testing, source-checking, data validation, peer review).
- High integrity and ownership: you protect sensitive data, avoid over-reliance on AI, and remain accountable for final decisions and deliverables.
- Bonus points if you have experience with any of the following (needs vary from team to team): Developer Enablement/Productivity or Internal Tooling, CI/CD, Generative AI/LLMs, Spark/Flink/Big Data technologies, Data Science/Analytics, Building Products or Internal Tools from Scratch
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science, or equivalent experience

This job posting is for an open vacancy. Please note that the company utilizes artificial intelligence to screen applicants for the positions.

In-Office Requirement Statement

We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.

This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6-months and therefore can be situated anywhere in Ontario.

Relocation Statement:

- This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our [PinFlex](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/pinflex/) page to learn more about our working model.

## #LI-HYBRID

## #LI-DS3

Our Commitment to Inclusion:

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete [this form](https://forms.gle/sS24D4WboEKUZMQK6) for support.

By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.

## About Pinterest

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Pinterest is a visual discovery engine that helps people find inspiration for their lives, from recipes and home decor to fashion and travel.
- **Entity Type**: Public (NYSE: PINS)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2010
- **Founders**: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Social media / Visual discovery
- **Target customers**: B2C (consumers seeking inspiration) and B2B (advertisers and brands)
- **Mission**: “Bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love.” [pinterestcareers.com](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Pinterest Platform**: A visual bookmarking and discovery tool where users create and share idea boards (SaaS/web/mobile).
- **Pinterest Ads**: An advertising platform enabling businesses to reach users through promoted pins, shopping ads, and video content.
- **Shopping Features**: Product pins, visual search, and direct purchase links that integrate e-commerce into the discovery experience.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: PINS). Market capitalization fluctuates; refer to latest financial reports for current figures.
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue (FY2024 reported ~$3.2 billion) – not explicitly provided in search results; see SEC filings.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Early investors include SV Angel, Bessemer Venture Partners, and FirstMark Capital. Key partners include Shopify, Google Cloud, and Amazon Ads.
- **Growth Signals**: 186 open positions listed on the careers site, global offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and Dublin. CEO Bill Ready emphasizes a “positive internet” business model as a growth differentiator. [pinterestcareers.com/jobs](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/jobs/)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Visual-first discovery**: Unlike text-based search engines, Pinterest uses image recognition and AI to surface ideas visually.
- **High-intent user base**: Users actively seek inspiration, making the platform highly valuable for advertisers.
- **AI at the core**: Machine learning powers recommendations, visual search, and shopping personalization.
- **Positive brand positioning**: Focus on inspiration and positivity differentiates it from other social platforms.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI and shopping**: Deep investment in AI to improve discovery and enable seamless shopping experiences.
- **Global expansion**: Growing international user base and advertiser ecosystem.
- **Creator and merchant tools**: Empowering content creators and small businesses to reach audiences directly.
- **Workplace flexibility**: The “PinFlex” model balances in-person collaboration with remote work autonomy. [pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex/)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Create the career you love” – emphasis on positivity, inclusion, and belonging. [pinterestcareers.com](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/)
- **Work model (PinFlex)**: Flexible – employees can work from an office or remotely within their country/region. In-person collaboration happens when it drives impact. A “Global30” program allows up to 30 days of work abroad per year. [pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex/)
- **Benefits**: Minimum 20 weeks global paid parental leave; comprehensive health, mental health, and wellness benefits; fertility and family building support; flexible vacation; retirement plans; home office stipend; office meals and snacks. [pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/benefits](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/benefits/)
- **Engineering culture**: AI is central to product innovation. Candidates may be asked to use AI tools during interviews, but individual skills are assessed fairly. [pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub/)
- **Interview process**: Transparent, competency-based interviews with recruiter, hiring manager, and cross-functional partners. Accommodations available. [pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub/)

## Sources
1. [pinterestcareers.com](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/) – Company overview, mission, culture
2. [pinterestcareers.com/jobs](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/jobs/) – Open positions and locations
3. [pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/benefits](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/benefits/) – Benefits and philosophy
4. [pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/inside-pinterest/pinflex/) – Flexible work model details
5. [pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/candidate-hub/) – Interview process and FAQs

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