Backend Reliability / Production Operations Engineer

job summary:

You have experience operating distributed, high-volume backend services in production, and you know how to deploy them and keep them running

You are comfortable triaging incidents on systems you did not build, using runbooks, dashboards and logs

You have hands-on experience with Java and/or Python backend services, Kubernetes, and a major cloud provider (GCP preferred)

You have experience with monitoring and alerting tools such as PagerDuty, Grafana and Prometheus/PromQL

You write clear documentation and enjoy leaving systems better than you found them

You are comfortable using AI coding tools to speed up maintenance and migration work

You communicate clearly and work well asynchronously with distributed teams

location: Telecommute job type: Contract salary: $80 - 87 per hour work hours: 8am to 5pm education: Bachelors

responsibilities:

The Personalization (PZN) team makes deciding what to play next on Spotify easier and more enjoyable for every listener. We seek to understand the world of music, podcasts and audiobooks better than anyone else so that we can make great recommendations to every individual and keep the world listening. Every day, hundreds of millions of people all over the world use the products we build which include destinations like Home and Search as well as original playlists such as Made For You, Discover Weekly and Daily Mix. The SeshGen product area builds and runs the systems behind Spotify's generative and interactive listening experiences, including AI DJ, AI Playlist and personalized sessions. SeshGen owns over 1,000 backend services, and many of them are stable and in maintenance mode. We are building a dedicated contractor team to own the operation and maintenance of these services, so our product squads can focus on new features.

What You'll Do

• Take over high-load backend services from core engineering teams, then maintain, upgrade, and scale them.
• Support recommendation systems during business hours (9-5 ET) as part of a goalie rotation:
• Triage PagerDuty alerts.
• Apply fixes such as restarts, rollbacks, and scaling.
• Escalate to the owning squad when needed.
• Keep services current: quarterly dependency updates and security patches, Kubernetes version upgrades, and GCP migrations.
• Reduce alert noise by tuning thresholds, fixing auto-resolving alerts, grouping related alerts, and removing alerts that aren't actionable.
• Identify unused services and decommission them safely using Backstage.
• Write and maintain runbooks and service documentation, and keep the service catalog accurate (ownership, reliability tiers, PagerDuty routing).
• Partner with SeshGen engineers and managers through handovers, alert reviews, and rotation meetings.
• Reduce tech debt and complexity where it makes sense.

What We're Looking For

• Required:
• Strong, long-running Java backend development experience. This is the top requirement.
• Experience maintaining and scaling distributed, high-volume production systems used by millions of users.
• Experience on systems shared across many engineering teams.
• Comfort working on code you didn't write, using runbooks, dashboards, and logs to diagnose issues.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and a major cloud provider, with GCP preferred.
• Experience with monitoring and alerting tools such as PagerDuty, Grafana, and Prometheus/PromQL.
• Clear writing and strong asynchronous communication with distributed teams.
• Nice to have:
• Python experience.
• Background in recommendation or personalization systems.
• Comfort using AI coding tools to speed up maintenance and migration work.

qualifications:

Hard Skills - Senior-level Java backend development, Operating and maintaining distributed, high-volume production systems and Scaling systems and removing technical debt.

Soft Skills - Strong written and verbal communication, Effective prioritization skills and Cross-team collaboration and alignment

skills:

AI coding tools,asynchronous communication,Grafana,Java,Kubernetes,alerting tools,PagerDuty,Prometheus,Python,recommendation systems,security patches,reliability,dashboards,decommission,diagnose issues,service documentation,Maintenance,Personalization,production systems,Java backend,service catalog,Triage

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.

At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact HRsupport@randstadusa.com.

Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).

This posting is open for thirty (30) days.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.