Senior Software Engineer, NYT Cooking

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for. 

About the Role, Mission or Department Overview

The New York Times is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the NYT Cooking API team, focused on building the backend systems and APIs that power interactive, AI-driven recipe experiences across NYT Cooking. This includes features such as recipe substitutions, personalized modifications, and experienced adaptations powered by LLM technology. The team also supports core search and discovery functionality, user data services like recipe saves and ratings, and the GraphQL infrastructure used across web and mobile platforms.

This is a collaborative and team that partners with product, design, editorial, and data teams to create seamless cooking experiences for millions of users across web, iOS, and Android. The environment is, and focused on building scalable, reliable, and observable systems that continue to evolve with the product.

This is a hybrid role reporting to the Engineering Manager within the Technology team

Responsibilities:

• Designing and building scalable APIs and backend services for web and mobile applications using GraphQL and REST.
• Developing backend systems using modern programming languages such as Go, Ruby, TypeScript, or Java.
• Working with SQL databases, PostgreSQL, including data modeling and query optimization.
• Working with search technologies such as Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or other distributed data systems.
• Monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving complex systems using observability tools such as Datadog, Sentry, logs, and dashboards.
• Working with cloud infrastructure platforms such as AWS or GCP and containerized deployment environments including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Leading projects through the full software development lifecycle from design to delivery while collaborating with partners and teams.
• Partner effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mentoring engineers through technical discussions, code reviews, collaborative, and pair programming.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of ourvalue of journalistic independence and a commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Basic Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience designing and implementing scalable APIs and backend services for web and mobile applications using GraphQL and REST.
• 5+ years of experience developing backend systems using modern programming languages such as Go, Ruby, TypeScript, or Java.
• 5+ years of experience working with SQL databases, particularly PostgreSQL, including data modeling and query performance optimization.
• 3+ years of experience working with distributed systems and search technologies such as Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, along with observability and troubleshooting tools including Datadog, Sentry, logs, and dashboards.
• 3+ years of experience working with cloud infrastructure platforms such as AWS or GCP and containerized deployment technologies including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience leading projects through the full software development lifecycle, collaborating cross-functionally with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and mentoring engineers through code reviews, pairing, and technical discussions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with GraphQL federation and building scalable subgraphs within larger distributed architectures.
• Experience with search and recommendation technologies, including Elasticsearch relevance tuning, semantic search, and ML/LLM-driven product features.
• Strong experience with Go and/or Ruby on Rails, particularly building and maintaining API-driven services and backend systems.
• Experience with infrastructure and developer tooling, including Terraform, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Drone, Jenkins), automation, release engineering, and LLM evaluation tools such as Braintrust.

REQ-020114

Compensation and Benefits For This Role:

In addition to base salary, this role is also eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

The annual base pay range for this role is between:

$140,000—$160,000 USD

Candidate Use of GenAI Tools:

We’re excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process.

If you’re an Engineering candidate, we’ll let you know what specific GenAI tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.

The New York Times Company is committed to being the world’s best source of independent, reliable and quality journalism. To do so, we embrace a diverse workforce that has a broad range of backgrounds and experiences across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Know Your Rights Poster is available here. 

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