Staff Backend Engineer – Location Platform at Life360

About Life360 Life360’s mission is to keep people close to the ones they love. Our category-leading mobile app, Tile tracking devices, and Pet GPS tracker empower members to protect the people, pets, and things they care about most with a range of services, including location sharing, safe driver reports, and crash detection with emergency dispatch. Life360 serves approximately 91.6 million monthly active users (MAU), as of September 30, 2025, across more than 180 countries. Life360 delivers peace of mind and enhances everyday family life with seamless coordination for all the moments that matter, big and small. By continuing to innovate and deliver for our customers, we have become a household name and the must-have mobile-based membership for families (and those friends who are basically family). Life360 has more than 500 (and growing!) remote-first employees. For more information, please visit life360.com. Life360 is a Remote-First company, which means a remote work environment will be the primary experience for all employees. All positions, unless otherwise specified, can be performed remotely (within the US) regardless of any specified location above. About The Team The Location Experiences team owns the location platform that powers Life360’s core value proposition: delivering fast, accurate, and emotionally resonant location experiences to over 90 million members worldwide. We are responsible for the data collection strategy, location intelligence, and real-time processing infrastructure that enables families to answer “Where is my family?” Our backend systems process billions of low latency location events daily, handle high-frequency device telemetry, and provide the location platform and APIs that other teams build on. We work at the intersection of distributed systems, geospatial computing, and real-time data processing—building the foundation that turns location data into peace of mind, safety, and connection for millions of families. This is a small, high-impact team where individual contributions directly shape system architecture, platform reliability, and the core member experience. About the Job We are seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to architect, build, and evolve our location platform infrastructure. This is a critical, high-impact role for an exceptional distributed systems engineer who will take technical ownership of complex subsystems, drive architectural direction, and solve hard problems at the intersection of geospatial computing, high-throughput data processing, and real-time systems. You will work on systems processing billions of location events per day, design scalable geospatial services, build resilient distributed architectures using Kafka and NATS, and create libraries and frameworks that other engineering teams depend on. This role requires deep expertise in distributed systems, location and geospatial algorithms, and a track record of leading complex technical initiatives across multiple teams. The US-based salary range for this position is 200k to 280k. The Canada-based salary range for this position is 220k to 260k CAD. We take into consideration an individual's background and experience in determining final salary - therefore, base pay offered may vary considerably depending on geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The compensation package includes a wide range of medical, dental, vision, financial, and other benefits, as well as equity. What You’ll Do • Design, architect, and build high-throughput, low-latency backend systems for real-time location processing, geofencing, and location intelligence at scale (billions of events/day) • Take technical ownership of critical subsystems from inception to production, driving architectural decisions, managing dependencies, and coordinating across multiple teams • Lead the design and development of geospatial libraries, location algorithms, and platform services that other teams build on—establishing standards and best practices for location data processing across the organization • Architect distributed systems using Java and Go, leveraging Kafka and NATS for event streaming, real-time data pipelines, and inter-service communication • Drive technical design specifications, translate architectural decisions into actionable engineering plans, and mentor engineers on distributed systems patterns and location platform architecture • Identify and address technical debt, scalability bottlenecks, and engineering process deficiencies—proactively improving system reliability, observability, and operational excellence • Collaborate across teams (mobile, firmware, data science, product) to define APIs, refine technical requirements, and ensure alignment with long-term platform goals • Evaluate and adopt new technologies and best practices for geospatial computing, distributed systems, and real-time data processing • Participate in on-call rotations, lead incident response for location platform systems, and continuously improve system resilience • Provide technical leadership and mentorship across teams, conducting thorough code reviews, sharing knowledge, and raising the engineering bar What We’re Looking For • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend systems, with deep expertise in distributed systems, high-throughput data processing, and scalable architectures • Expert-level distributed systems knowledge: Strong fundamentals in consistency models, distributed consensus, event-driven architectures, data partitioning, and fault tolerance • Location and geospatial expertise: Hands-on experience with geospatial algorithms, coordinate systems, spatial indexing (e.g., geohashing, S2, quadtrees), proximity search, and geofencing at scale • Proficiency in Java and Go: Strong coding skills with experience building production services, libraries, and frameworks in both languages • Deep experience with Kafka and NATS: Hands-on expertise designing and operating event streaming systems, real-time data pipelines, and message-driven architectures at scale • Proven track record of technical leadership: Experience driving architectural decisions, resolving design misalignments, and coordinating complex technical initiatives across multiple teams • High-throughput, low-latency systems: Experience building systems that process billions of events per day with strict latency requirements (e.g., p99 < 100ms) • Strong system design and architecture skills: Ability to independently design complex subsystems, evaluate trade-offs, and produce well-documented, maintainable architectures • Platform and library development: Experience building reusable libraries, SDKs, or platform services that other engineering teams depend on • Excellent collaboration and communication: Ability to translate technical concepts for diverse audiences, lead cross-functional discussions, and mentor engineers at all levels Nice to Have • Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, distributed tracing), and SRE practices • Experience with real-time location tracking systems, telematics, or IoT data platforms • Familiarity with spatial databases (PostGIS, GeoMesa) or geospatial query engines • Background in mobile location APIs (iOS CLLocationManager, Android FusedLocationProvider) and understanding of device-side location collection • Experience with time-series data processing and storage (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB, Apache Druid) • Knowledge of privacy-preserving location techniques and compliance with location data regulations (GDPR, CCPA) • Contributions to open-source distributed systems or geospatial projects • Experience with real-time stream processing frameworks (Kafka Streams, Flink, Spark Streaming) What We Offer • The opportunity to architect and own critical, high-impact systems that deliver peace of mind to over 90 million members worldwide • Work on technically challenging problems at the intersection of distributed systems, geospatial computing, and real-time data processing at massive scale • High-ownership, high-visibility role with direct impact on platform architecture, system design, and engineering standards • Collaborate with a small, senior engineering team where your contributions shape technical direction and platform evolution • Continuous learning and growth across distributed systems, location technology, and platform engineering • Competitive compensation and benefits Our Benefits • Competitive pay and benefits • Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance plans (100% paid for employees) • 401(k) plan with company matching program • Mental Wellness Program & Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental well-being • Flexible PTO, 13 company-wide days off throughout the year • Winter and Summer Weeklong Synchronized Company Shutdowns • Learning & Development programs • Equipment, tools, and reimbursement support for a productive remote environment • Free Life360 Platinum Membership for your preferred circle • Free Tile Products Life360 Values Our company’s mission-driven culture is guided by our shared values to create a trusted work environment where you can bring your authentic self to work and make a positive difference • Be a Good Person - We have a team of high integrity people you can trust. • Be Direct With Respect - We communicate directly, even when it’s hard. • Members Before Metrics - We focus on building an exceptional experience for families. • High Intensity, High Impact - We do whatever it takes to get the job done. Our Commitment to Diversity We believe that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better results. Together, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. It fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our customers and the communities we serve. We strive to create a workplace that reflects the communities we serve and where everyone feels empowered to bring their authentic best selves to work. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at Life360. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any legally protected status. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. We believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas. Come join us in building something meaningful. Even if you don’t meet 100% of the below qualifications, you should still seriously consider applying! #LI-Remote