---
title: 'Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Communications Platform) at Squarespace'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-software-engineer-backend-communications-platform-squarespace-new-york-0vrd9njzh520'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Communications Platform) at Squarespace

- **Company:** Squarespace
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Posted:** 2026-08-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** http://www.squarespace.com/about/careers?gh_jid=8159839

## Job description

Squarespace is looking for a Backend Staff Software Engineer to lead the technical direction of our Communications Platform team. The Communications Platform is a critical engine powering customer engagement across Squarespace — providing internal teams with a scalable, reliable, and secure infrastructure for delivering communications via email, push notifications and in-product messaging.

The team owns multiple interconnected production platforms that collectively send over 1.75+ million notifications per day, strategic initiatives including platform modernization, In-Product Placements, and multi-channel communication capabilities.

In this role, you’ll serve as the senior technical voice for the team — driving architecture, shaping roadmap execution, and elevating the engineering quality of a small but high-impact team. This is a hands-on role with real technical depth, paired with broad cross-functional influence.

This is a hybrid role based in our NYC office (3 days per week), reporting to the Engineering Manager of Communications Platform.

You’ll Get To…

- Drive the architecture, design, and implementation of the Communications Platform’s platforms — including Email Delivery, In-Product Notifications and Push Notifications.
- Define and own the technical strategy for platform modernization, reliability hardening, and engineering standards across backend services.
- Provide hands-on technical leadership and mentorship to a team of backend and frontend engineers, helping them grow in system design, decision-making, and ownership.
- Write high-quality Java code and stay close to execution — leading design reviews, code reviews, and architectural decisions that raise the bar across the codebase.
- Proactively identify and address systemic risks in performance, reliability, security, and operability before they become incidents.
- Serve as a key technical partner on cross-team and company-wide architecture initiatives.
- Balance short-term delivery with long-term platform health, communicating tradeoffs clearly to stakeholders and leadership.

Who We’re Looking For

- 10+ years of backend engineering experience, with significant time building and operating large-scale, customer-facing systems.
- Deep expertise in Java and backend service development, including APIs, async processing, messaging systems (ex: Kafka), and data stores (ex: MongoDB, CockroachDB).
- Strong experience with distributed systems in production — including reliability, scaling, failure modes, and observability.
- A proven track record of technical leadership at the Staff or Senior-plus level, influencing architecture across multiple teams or services.
- Experience evolving existing systems — modernizing legacy platforms, simplifying complexity, and strengthening reliability without unnecessary rewrites.
- Experience operating within platform engineering contexts, where your customers are internal or external product teams and the quality of your APIs and abstractions directly shapes their velocity.
- A strong understanding of multi-channel communication infrastructure (email delivery, push, in-product notifications) is a meaningful plus.
- The ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical partners.
- A mindset oriented toward mentorship, collaboration, and inclusive technical leadership.

Technologies You'll Work With

- Java, Spring, Kafka, MongoDB, CockroachDB, Kubernetes, GCP.
- The team actively uses Claude Code, Cursor and GitHub Copilot to accelerate development and code review.

## Benefits & Perks

- A choice between medical plans with an option for 100% covered premiums
- Fertility and adoption benefits
- Access to supplemental insurance plans for additional coverage
- Headspace mindfulness app subscription
- Global Employee Assistance Program
- Retirement benefits with employer match
- Flexible paid time off
- 12 weeks paid parental leave and family care leave
- Pretax commuter benefit
- Education reimbursement
- Employee donation match to community organizations
- 7 Global Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
- Dog-friendly workplace
- Free lunch and snacks
- Private rooftop
- Hack week twice per year

Cash Compensation Range: $185,500 - $299,000 USD

The base salary for this position will vary based on job-related criteria including relevant skills, experience, and location, among other factors.

In addition to the cash compensation above (which includes base salary and, where applicable for eligible roles, may include overtime pay), Squarespace employees are eligible to be granted an option to purchase our common stock. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive structure in addition to base salary.

## About Squarespace

Squarespace is a design-driven platform helping entrepreneurs build brands and businesses online. We empower millions of customers in more than 200 countries and territories with all the tools they need to create an online presence, build an audience, monetize, and scale their business. Our suite of products range from websites, domains, ecommerce, and marketing tools, as well as tools for scheduling with Acuity and creating and managing social media presence with Bio Sites and Unfold. Our team of more than 1,700 is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Aveiro, Portugal. For more information about our company, visit https://www.squarespace.com/about/careers.

Our Commitment

Today, more than a million people around the globe use Squarespace to share different perspectives and experiences with the world. Not only do we embrace and celebrate the diversity of our customers, but we also work toward the same in our employees. At Squarespace, we are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, national origin, gender, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or parental status, disability, veteran status, or other class protected by applicable law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

#LI-Hybrid Thank you in advance for providing the following details about your work history from your resume! This helps us ensure that your candidate information is accurate and consistent during the hiring process.

Squarespace will never solicit your personal banking information or ask you to transfer money in connection with a job offer or interview. We also will not reach out to you via phone or SMS without your permission or knowledge.

If you plan to use AI in any capacity during your candidate journey, please review our [Candidate AI Policy](https://sqsp.link/Sxow3s).

## About Squarespace

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Squarespace is a website building and hosting platform that provides tools for entrepreneurs and creators to build, manage, and grow their online presence, including websites, ecommerce stores, domains, and marketing.
- **Entity Type**: Public (NYSE: SQSP)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, USA (with offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Aveiro, Portugal)
- **Founded**: 2003
- **Founders**: Anthony Casalena

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Website building & hosting, ecommerce, content management, marketing technology
- **Target customers**: B2B and B2C – small businesses, entrepreneurs, creators, freelancers, and enterprises building online brands
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “A future where everyone can be an entrepreneur.” Design is the ultimate competitive advantage, making professional online tools accessible to all.

## Products & Services
- **Squarespace Websites**: Drag-and-drop website builder with customizable templates, hosting, and built-in SEO; SaaS.
- **Squarespace Commerce**: Ecommerce platform with inventory management, checkout, payments, and shipping; integrated into websites.
- **Squarespace Scheduling**: Online booking and appointment scheduling tool (formerly Acuity Scheduling); SaaS.
- **Squarespace Domains**: Domain name registration and management.
- **Squarespace Marketing**: Email campaigns, social media integration, and analytics tools to grow customer reach.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (public company; market cap available via stock market data)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$1.0B (LinkedIn)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Public company; no recent funding rounds. Partners include payment processors (Stripe), and the company owns the Unfold brand.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 11.7% year-over-year to 1,523 employees (LinkedIn, about page reports “more than 1,760”). Continues to expand offices in Dublin and Portugal; recognized as Great Place to Work and Best Large Places to Work multiple years.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Design-first philosophy** – every product is built with a focus on aesthetics and usability, differentiating from more utilitarian competitors.
- **All-in-one platform** – customers can get websites, domains, ecommerce, scheduling, and marketing under one roof, reducing the need for third-party integrations.
- **Strong brand and community** – millions of websites created; consistently ranked among top workplace awards, attracting top talent.
- **Flexible work policy** – offers both office-space and home-space classifications, enabling a hybrid model that balances collaboration and remote autonomy.

## Strategic Focus
- **Betting on big ideas** – investing in game-changing products like improved ecommerce features, AI-powered design tools, and deeper integrations.
- **International expansion** – growing engineering and support teams in Dublin and Portugal to serve a global customer base.
- **Inclusion & Impact** – driving diversity through employee resource groups, inclusive policies (20 weeks paid family leave, fertility benefits), and matching charitable donations up to $600 per employee.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Highly collaborative, design-driven, and fast-paced. Emphasis on “protect creativity,” “be the customer,” and “learn fast, act fast.” Strong focus on inclusion with 7 ERGs and an Inclusion Advisory Council.
- **Work flexibility**: Hybrid and remote options are core to the model. Employees can be “Officespace” (in-office at least part of the week) or “Homespace” (fully remote). Previously 13% were fully remote pre-pandemic; now many roles have flexible arrangements.
- **Perks & benefits**:
  - Competitive salary, equity grants, and 401(k) with company match.
  - Up to 20 weeks paid family leave and 12 weeks personal care leave.
  - Fertility and adoption benefits (up to $10k/year, $20k lifetime).
  - Mental health support via Headspace, Talkspace, and EAP.
  - Charitable donation matching ($600/yr).
  - Free Squarespace and Unfold subscriptions for employees.
- **Recognition**: Great Place to Work (US, Ireland); Built In Best Places to Work; Comparably Best Work-Life Balance; Healthiest Employers of NYC; Best Companies for Diversity, Women, and Career Growth.
- **Engineering culture**: Teams work on backend (Java, Go), frontend (React, JavaScript), infrastructure, and product analytics. Open roles include Staff Engineer, Senior Software Engineer, and DevOps roles.

## Sources
1. [squarespace.com/about/careers](https://www.squarespace.com/about/careers)
2. [squarespace.com/about/company](https://www.squarespace.com/about/company)
3. [squarespace.com/about/inclusion-and-impact](https://www.squarespace.com/about/inclusion-and-impact)
4. [linkedin.com/company/squarespace](https://www.linkedin.com/company/squarespace)
5. [squarespace.com/careers/jobs](https://www.squarespace.com/careers/jobs)

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