Software Engineer at Axios

1 big thing: Axios is a growth-focused media company dedicated to helping people get smarter, faster on what matters. We’re looking for a Software Engineer to help scale the systems that power Axios’ core products. Why it matters: At Axios, we deliver news that’s clinical, trustworthy, and informative — reaching millions of readers every day. As a Software Engineer, you’ll help power the services, APIs, and data flows that make our audience-facing products fast, reliable, and scalable. You’ll work closely with product managers, designers, and engineers across disciplines to build resilient systems that embody Axios’ commitment to clarity and make our readers smarter. Responsibilities: As a Software Engineer, you’ll develop high-quality, reliable services in a Golang and Python codebase, ensuring performance and stability across Axios’ publishing and delivery platforms. Key responsibilities include: • API development: Design, implement, and maintain scalable REST APIs to power Axios products. • Service reliability: Build and optimize backend services using Golang and Python, ensuring they are resilient, performant, and maintainable. • Data modeling: Design and evolve database schemas and performant queries to support new features and business requirements. • Collaboration: Work closely with front-end engineers, quality engineers, designers, and product managers to deliver end-to-end features. • Testing & quality: Write unit, integration, and end-to-end tests; contribute to Axios’ quality efforts by ensuring backend systems are covered with automated tests. • Performance & observability: Monitor system health, contribute to our logging/metrics implementation, and proactively improve performance and scalability. • AI fluency: Leverage AI tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or other assistants to accelerate development, improve code quality, and explore creative solutions. • Continuous improvement: Participate in code reviews, propose improvements to architecture and practices, and stay up to date with evolving backend technologies. Skills: The ideal candidate is a thoughtful engineer who cares about reliability, scalability, and writing clean, maintainable code. You should have: • Experience: 2–5+ years in backend or full-stack development, with hands-on experience in Golang and/or Python. • API expertise: Strong understanding of designing and consuming RESTful APIs. • Databases: Familiarity with relational databases (e.g., Postgres, MySQL) and ORMs (e.g., Gin, Django) • Testing: Experience with unit and integration testing in Golang and/or Python, and a mindset of embedding quality into development. • Performance & scalability: Awareness of common patterns for scaling backend services and optimizing performance. • AI tooling: Comfort using tools like GitHub Copilot or Claude Clode as part of your day-to-day workflow. • Collaboration: Excellent communication skills and the ability to work cross-functionally in an agile environment. We’ll be even more excited if you have: • Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or similar). • Experience with gRPC services. • Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes). • Experience working with observability and monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Honeycomb). • Knowledge of authentication, authorization, and security best practices. • Experience with performance testing or load testing of backend services. What success looks like: • Reliable systems: You build services that are stable, scalable, and meet the needs of Axios’ products and readers. • Quality code: You write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code that reduces defects and simplifies future development. • Collaboration: You work closely with teammates across front-end, product, and QE to deliver features efficiently and effectively. • AI-driven efficiency: You integrate AI tools into your workflow to accelerate development, improve code quality, and continuously learn. • Performance focus: You monitor and improve backend performance, ensuring services are fast and resilient. • Continuous growth: You sharpen your skills, share knowledge with teammates, and contribute to improving Axios’ engineering practices. Starting salary for this role is in the range of $130,000 - $165,000 and is dependent on numerous factors, including but not limited to location, work experience, and skills. This range does not include other compensation benefits. Axios' compensation philosophy takes into account the cost of labor differentials across the country. Because this is a remote-optional job posting, this salary range takes into account all possible locations within the United States, but candidates will only be eligible for the salary range for their location. Axios is committed to embracing artificial intelligence as a core part of how we work. All team members are expected to actively develop AI literacy and use AI tools to enhance their productivity, creativity, and efficiency. We invest in ongoing learning to ensure every employee is equipped to responsibly and effectively integrate AI into their daily workflows. What Axios brings to the table besides salary: • 401(k) with employer match • Robust PPO and High Deductible health insurance options on the Blue Cross Blue Shield network • Employer Health Savings Account (HSA) contribution for the high deductible health plan option • Dental and vision coverage • Primary caregiver 12-week paid leave • Birth-givers will have an additional 6-8 weeks depending on type of delivery, for a total of 18-20 weeks continuous leave • Generous vacation policy, plus holidays • One mental health day per quarter • Annual learning and development stipend • $100 monthly work-from-home stipend • Tele-mental health services through Headspace • OneMedical membership, including tele-health services • Personal health advocacy resources through HealthAdvocate • Inclusive fertility, hormonal health and family forming benefits through Carrot Fertility • Access to the Axios “Family Fund”, which was created to allow employees to request financial support when facing financial hardship or emergencies • Increased work flexibility for parents and caretakers • Virtual company-sponsored social events • A strong and positive work environment • A commitment to an open, inclusive, and diverse work culture Equal Opportunity Employer Statement Axios is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Axios makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.