Senior Software Engineer - GCP

Job Description

<p><b>Senior Software Engineer - GCP Developer</b></p><p><b>- Equity Partner -</b></p><p><br></p><p><b>Location:</b> Remote (United States/Canada)</p><p><b>Commitment:</b> Minimum 20 hrs/week</p><p><br></p><p><b>Anime Universe is an early stage startup in the building and fundraising phase. </b></p><p><b>Compensation:</b></p><ul><li>No upfront cash</li><li>"Sweat Equity": Equity (shares) + future token-based rewards (pending legal clearance)</li><li>Salary unlocked by revenue milestones</li><li>Remote-first, async-native, autonomy-rich team</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>What You Put In Is What You Get Out</b></p><p>At <b>Anime Universe</b>, infrastructure is not a support function—it’s a <b>core enabler of the product itself</b>. As a <b>Senior Software Engineer (GCP-focused)</b>, you will design and build the applications, systems, and services that power an intelligent, scalable creative platform.</p><p><br></p><p><b>Why This Role Matters</b></p><p>This is a software engineering role at its core.</p><p>You’ll architect and implement cloud-native services, data-driven features, and scalable backend systems that bring our creative universe to life.</p><p>You will:</p><ul><li>Build <b>application logic, APIs, and services</b> that run on GCP.</li><li>Shape the foundational architecture that supports real-time creativity, analytics, and future AI systems.</li><li>Partner closely with product, data, and AI teams to turn ideas into production-ready software.</li></ul><p>Your work is the backbone of how we deliver magic to users.</p><p><br></p><p><b>What You’ll Do</b></p><p><br></p><p><b>Build Cloud-Native Applications</b></p><ul><li>Develop microservices, APIs, backend components, and data-intensive features using <b>GCP-native compute options</b> like Cloud Run, GKE, and Cloud Functions.</li><li>Write clean, scalable software using Python (or another backend language), with strong emphasis on modularity, maintainability, and performance.</li></ul><p><b>Design & Implement GCP-Based Architectures</b></p><ul><li>Architect services using Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Firestore, Cloud SQL, and VPC networking.</li><li>Make key decisions around system design, data modeling, and service boundaries.</li></ul><p><b>Develop Data-Driven Features</b></p><ul><li>Build application logic that consumes real-time and batch data pipelines.</li><li>Integrate with BigQuery, Dataflow, and Pub/Sub to power analytics, personalization, and content systems.</li></ul><p><b>Build for Scale, Reliability & Developer Velocity</b></p><ul><li>Use CI/CD and IaC (Cloud Build, Terraform) to support the software you write—without being a dedicated DevOps engineer.</li><li>Prioritize automation that supports fast iteration and high service quality.</li></ul><p><b>Collaborate Across the Product</b></p><ul><li>Work with architects, designers, and AI engineers to ship product features end-to-end.</li><li>Help define best practices for cloud-native software development internally.</li></ul><p><b>(Bonus) AI/ML Enablement</b></p><ul><li>Integrate applications with Vertex AI components or internal ML systems.</li><li>Experience with LangChain or generative AI is helpful but not required.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>What You Bring</b></p><p><br></p><p><b>Software Engineering First</b></p><ul><li>4+ years of professional <b>software development</b> experience</li><li>Strong expertise with <b>Python</b> (or equivalent backend languages), distributed systems, and API development</li><li>Experience developing production services on <b>Google Cloud Platform</b></li></ul><p><b>Deep GCP Knowledge (but applied through software engineering)</b></p><ul><li>Proficiency with:</li><li>Cloud Run / GKE</li><li>BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub</li><li>Cloud SQL / Firestore</li><li>IAM, VPC networking</li><li>Experience designing scalable cloud architectures</li><li>Strong familiarity with containerization and CI/CD workflows (Docker, Cloud Build, GitHub Actions)</li></ul><p><b>Other Strengths</b></p><ul><li>Solid understanding of cloud security, monitoring, and performance tuning</li><li>Terraform experience (for managing the resources your services rely on)</li><li>Cloud certifications (Professional Cloud Architect/Developer/Data Engineer) are a plus</li><li>A builder’s mindset—practical, iterative, and product-focused</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>Success Metrics</b></p><ul><li>Production-ready services delivered quickly and reliably</li><li>Well-architected systems that scale with usage</li><li>Fast deployment cycles and high engineering throughput</li><li>Efficient, cost-conscious use of GCP resources</li><li>New features (data-driven or AI-driven) enabled through your architectures</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>Compensation & Culture</b></p><ul><li><b>Equity:</b> Role-based equity package</li><li><b>Token Rewards:</b> Potential based on contribution and compliance clearance</li><li><b>Salary:</b> Equity-first; salary unlocks via company revenue milestones</li><li><b>Culture:</b> Remote-first, async-native, and high-trust engineering environment</li></ul><p></p>