Lead Backend Engineer Data Platform

Labhouse is a Barcelona-based startup studio building AI-powered mobile apps used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Our products — including Invoice Fly and Summary AI — are designed to make everyday tasks faster, smarter, and simpler through a subscription model that puts the user first.

We were founded by Andrés Bou and Horacio Martos, the duo behind SocialPoint (acquired by Take-Two Interactive), and we operate with the mindset of a product company: small teams, high ownership, and a relentless focus on building things that matter.

We're now looking for a Lead Backend Engineer to own one of our most technically ambitious greenfield projects — and eventually grow a team around it. 🚀

About THE Role

We're building something new in-house — a greenfield backend system that sits at the intersection of mobile, data, and growth infrastructure. The details are under wraps for now, but the challenge is real: you'll design and build this from scratch, with full ownership over the architecture, the stack, and the technical decisions.

You'll start as an IC, then grow a team around what you build.

What You'll DO

• Architect and build a complex, high-scale backend system from the ground up — greenfield, no legacy constraints

• Choose and own the technology stack; we're open to the right tool for the job

• Design reliable, low-latency data pipelines and the APIs that power the product

• Work closely with Growth and Product teams to ensure the system delivers the right data for decision-making

• Lay the technical foundation with future team growth in mind — your architecture decisions will shape how this team scales

About YOU

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND:

• You hold a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field. Strong academic foundations in distributed systems, data engineering, or backend architecture are a plus.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE:

• 7+ years of backend engineering experience, with a strong track record of building complex, high-scale systems from scratch

• Experience working on data-intensive backend infrastructure: event pipelines, distributed systems, high-throughput APIs

• Strong backend fundamentals — you can pick the right architecture for the problem, not just the one you know best

• Experience working with TypeScript/Node.js is a plus, but we're open to other languages — stack is not closed

• Proven ability to work autonomously and make sound technical decisions without heavy oversight

• A builder's mindset: you're energized by the blank-page challenge of creating something from zero

COMMUNICATION

• You communicate clearly and proactively — whether it's aligning with the Growth team on attribution requirements, documenting architectural decisions, or flagging blockers early.

• You're comfortable working remotely and know how to stay connected and collaborative across an async environment.

NICE TO HAVE

• Prior experience at a mobile-first company or ad tech company, especially in growth or data infrastructure

• Familiarity with the mobile measurement ecosystem — knowing how these tools work helps you build better

• Experience with fraud detection in data pipeline contexts

• Experience hiring or mentoring engineers — you'll be doing this soon

What WE Offer

• Competitive salary, attractive and above market average

• Remote work from anywhere in Spain. If you are based in Barcelona, we would love for you to join us at the office (Barcelona Tech City) at least two days a week.

• The chance to build a technically complex system from zero, with full ownership

• A lean, high-talent environment where your work has direct and visible impact

• Work alongside founders who have built and scaled globally successful products

• HIRING PROCESS

1. TA Interview – Initial conversation to get to know each other and understand your background.

2. CTO interview – Deep dive into your product thinking, experience, and fit with the team.

3. Technical Case – Practical exercise to assess your product, analytical, and strategic capabilities.

4. Final Interview – Final conversation to ensure alignment on expectations, culture, and role fit.

• YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Labhouse is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. However you identify or whatever your journey to this point, we welcome all candidates to apply for the position that inspires them.

• Come join us and help us build a company that everyone is proud to be part of.