Lead Backend Developer

About Minga

At Minga, were creating the Student Behavior Platform schools cant imagine running without. Were on a mission to make school life run smoother and have fun while were at it.
Were a tight-knit team of curious, creative, and low-ego humans who genuinely enjoy working together. We care deeply about the work we do and the people we do it with, and that shows up in how we lead, collaborate, and celebrate.
Our culture is built on trust, ownership, and continuous learning. Whether youre working from our Kelowna HQ or remotely, youll have the autonomy to do your best work, the support to grow, and the opportunity to make a real impact in the lives of educators and students.

The Role

Were not just hiring for a position, were adding a teammate. Someone who wants to help build whats next, take real ownership, and grow with us along the way.
As Backend Tech Lead at Minga, youll guide a team of backend engineers in designing and delivering scalable services, integrations, and data systems that power our platform. Youll partner closely with product, frontend, mobile, and QA teams to translate vision into technical execution, while ensuring that our backend architecture is robust, secure, and adaptable for future growth.

Youll be both a hands-on engineer and a technical leader, setting direction, reviewing code, mentoring teammates, and ensuring that backend best practices are consistently applied across the team.

What Youll Do

• Setting technical direction and leading backend architecture decisions across services, APIs, integrations, and data pipelines.
• Collaborating with Product and Engineering leadership to align backend roadmap with company goals.
• Leading design and code reviews, advocating for clean, maintainable, and scalable solutions.
• Mentoring backend engineers, supporting their professional growth, and fostering a strong engineering culture.
• Driving adoption of backend best practices in security, testing, performance, and DevOps.
• Overseeing implementation of data pipelines, storage strategies, and integrations that enable reporting and analytics.
• Ensuring backend systems are reliable, secure, and well-monitored, with disaster recovery and governance processes in place.
• Acting as a bridge between backend and other teams (frontend, mobile, QA, devops), ensuring smooth collaboration and delivery.

What We Require

• 7+ years of backend development experience, including 2+ years in a lead/mentorship capacity.
• Strong background in backend architecture and data engineering.
• Proficiency with Node.js / TypeScript, SQL (plus experience with APIs, GRPC, or REST).
• Solid experience with cloud environments, CI/CD pipelines, and containerization (Docker/Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with modern data stacks (Snowflake, Cloud SQL, ETL pipelines, visualization tools like Metabase).
• Proven ability to balance hands-on development with leadership responsibilities.
• Strong communicator, able to explain complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Comfortable leading through ambiguity, evaluating trade-offs, and making pragmatic technical decisions.

Who You Are

• Youre naturally curious, self-directed, and energized by building
• You care just as much about how things get done as what gets done
• You thrive in collaborative environments and arent afraid to take the lead
• You value transparency, feedback, and a shared commitment to doing great work
• Youre passionate about making a difference and having fun while doing it

How We Work (and What We Value)
Our values arent just what we believe, theyre how we show up every day:

Growth Always learning, always evolving
Respect Every voice matters
Integrity Doing whats right, even when its hard
Passion Bringing energy and heart to everything we do

What You Can Expect at Minga

Flexible, Hybrid-First Work: Work in a way that works for you. Our hybrid model blends in-office collaboration days with the freedom of remote work. Some roles are fully remote, and we make sure our remote teammates are just as engaged, connected, and celebrated as those in the office.

Inclusive leadership: Monthly CEO Lunch & Learns, open Q&As, and transparent updates; our leadership team listens, acts, and keeps the lines of communication open

Culture of connection: Social events, virtual meetups, and 2 annual offsites to bring everyone together

Growth investment: We invest in you. With dedicated time and budget for growth, youll have the freedom to explore, upskill, and expand your impact

Recognition that matters: From Slack shoutouts to company-wide recognition we pause to celebrate progress

Perks with purpose:

• Equitable pay + transparency
• Flexible PTO (vacation + personal days)
• Health, dental, and vision benefits for you & your family
• Mental health and wellness support
• A team that leads with heart, values every voice, and loves what they do

Sound like your kind of place?
Apply now, wed love to meet you.

What You Can Expect From Us

At Minga, youre more than just an application, youre a real person with a story we want to hear. Every rsum is reviewed by a human on our team (no bots ghosting you here), and we make it our mission to keep you in the loop from hello to final decision.

We believe in clear communication, mutual respect, and making sure every candidate walks away feeling valued; whether we end up working together or not.

If this role feels like a fit, or even a maybe, hit that apply button. Were genuinely excited to learn more about you.
Lets build something meaningful together.