Staff Engineer
About the Role
Lead technical architecture and infrastructure for a vibe-first discovery platform. Shape engineering culture and mentor the team.
As a Staff Engineer at Twari, you'll be a technical leader who shapes our architecture, infrastructure, and engineering practices. You'll work on complex systems problems like scaling vector search to millions of users, optimizing real-time recommendation pipelines, and building resilient distributed systems. This role combines deep technical work with mentorship and strategic thinking.
What You'll Do
- Design and architect core platform systems (search, recommendations, feed generation)
- Lead technical initiatives across frontend, backend, and infrastructure
- Mentor engineers and establish engineering best practices
- Make key technical decisions and trade-offs for long-term scalability
- Work on performance optimization, system reliability, and observability
- Collaborate with product and design on technical feasibility and roadmap planning
What We're Looking For
- 8+ years of software engineering experience across full-stack or backend
- Deep expertise in at least one area (databases, distributed systems, performance, etc.)
- Proven track record of designing and shipping large-scale systems
- Strong architectural thinking and ability to make technical trade-offs
- Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives
- Excellent communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences
Nice to Have
- Experience with vector databases and similarity search at scale
- Background in high-traffic social platforms or recommendation systems
- Open source contributions or technical writing
- Experience with PostgreSQL internals and query optimization
Perks & Benefits
Competitive Salary
Compensation aligned with your experience and location.
4-Day Work Week
We believe in work-life balance. Work 4 days, enjoy 3-day weekends.
Unlimited PTO
Minimum 25 days encouraged per year. Take time off when you need it.
Flexible Hours
Async-first culture with core collaboration window 11am-3pm CET for team syncs. Cross-timezone pairing is flexible based on what works for you and your teammates.
Home Office Setup
€2,000 setup budget plus €150/month stipend for coworking, equipment, or coffee.
Premium Equipment
Choice of MacBook Pro or Dell XPS laptop, plus accessories.
Learning Budget
€2,500/year for courses, books, conferences, or anything that helps you grow.
Annual Company Retreat
Meet the team in person at our annual retreat somewhere in Europe.
Annual Salary Reviews
Regular reviews tied to your performance and growth.
Health Insurance
Comprehensive health insurance coverage.
Compassionate Leave
Paid leave when you need it most for difficult life situations.
Paid Volunteer Time
5 days paid time to give back to your community.
Parental Leave
Mother: 6 months fully paid. Father: 3 months fully paid, with option to extend to 6 months at 80% pay.
Sabbatical
After 3 years: 4 weeks paid. After 5 years: 8 weeks paid. Time to recharge, travel, or pursue personal projects.
10% Time for Side Projects
Dedicate time to passion projects, open source contributions, or learning. Roughly 1 day every 2 weeks.
Pension Contribution
5% company contribution to your retirement fund.
Referral Bonus
€2,500 when you refer someone who gets hired (after 3 months). Referred candidate gets €500 welcome bonus.
* All benefits meet or exceed your country's statutory minimums. If your local laws require more, we'll adapt accordingly.
About Twari
Twari is a vibe-first social discovery app that helps people find content and creators based on aesthetic and mood, not follower counts or engagement metrics.
We're building the future of discovery where small creators get equal visibility when their vibe matches what people are seeking. Twari uses advanced visual AI to analyse colour palettes, energy levels, and aesthetic warmth to surface content that resonates.
We're a small, remote-first team backed by experienced founders and advisors. We value authenticity over clout, quality over quantity, and building products that genuinely help people.
Ready to Apply?
Send us your resume, portfolio (if applicable), and a note about why you're excited about Twari.
Apply for this positionWe review applications on a rolling basis and typically respond within 5 business days.