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EMPIRE · 3 months ago

Lead Backend Engineer (Publishing, PHP/Laravel)

EMPIRE San Francisco

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level

$120K/yr - $160K/yr

5+ years exp

EMPIRE is a premier and dynamic music company that supports independent artists and has become the largest independent record label in the U.S. They are seeking a Lead Backend Engineer to own the architecture and development of backend systems for their music publishing management platform. The role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver efficient backend solutions while mentoring other engineers.

Information TechnologyMusicMusic Label

Growth Opportunities

Responsibilities

Own the architecture, design, and implementation of application code and APIs for our music publishing SaaS platform

Build scalable, secure, and maintainable backend code using PHP (vanilla + Laravel)

Implement and maintain workflows for publishing data ingestion, validation, transformation, and delivery

Drive backend performance, availability, and resilience across rights, works, and royalty processing pipelines

Establish and enforce best practices in code quality, testing, database design, and deployment

Mentor and guide backend engineers, providing technical direction and career growth support

Collaborate cross-functionally with product, frontend, and publishing teams to deliver seamless, industry-compliant solutions

Lead evaluation and adoption of backend frameworks, libraries, and infrastructure tooling

Contribute to technical strategy and long-term planning for backend architecture to support publishing industry standards and company growth

Qualification

PHPLaravelBackend architectureMusic publishing conceptsRelational databasesAPI designAutomated testingLeadershipCollaborationCommunication

Required

5+ years of professional backend engineering experience, including at least 2+ years leading PHP/Laravel development efforts

Strong hands-on experience with PHP (vanilla and Laravel), relational databases (MySQL/PostgreSQL), and API design

Proven ability to lead and mentor backend engineering teams

Expertise in designing scalable data models for complex datasets

Proficiency in automated testing frameworks for backend systems (e.g., PHPUnit, Pest)

Strong grounding in performance optimization, caching strategies, and database profiling

Excellent leadership, collaboration, and communication skills in cross-functional environments

Comfortable context switching between legacy code and newer codebases

Proven track record in data modeling, database design, and schema optimization

Preferred

Deep familiarity with music publishing concepts: works, rights, royalties, splits, licensing, and publishing agreements

Experience with industry-standard publishing data formats and flows, such as CWR, DDEX, and metadata exchange

Knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform)

Experience in compliance-heavy environments (GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2, sensitive rights and royalty data)

Background in distributed systems design, event-driven architecture, or microservices

Prior experience working on SaaS products tailored to music publishing or rights management

Benefits

Competitive Compensation Package

Competitive Benefits Package

Company Paid Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability Insurance

Company Paid Health Savings Account (HSA) Contribution

Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Paid Time Off (Holidays, Vacation, and Sick)

Company 401(k) Plan

Wellness Resources

Commuter Allowance

Cell Phone Allowance

Company

EMPIRE

Founded in 2010 by Bay Area native Ghazi, EMPIRE is currently leading through its innovative and progressive approach to the digital music era across its label, distribution and publishing arms.

Founded in 2010

San Francisco, California, USA

201-500 employees