Staff Engineer, Backend Platform

Zum

Redwood City, CA

Posted on: 2025-09-10

Category: transportation

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Employment type:

Full time

Experience required:

Intermediate

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Zum is a student transportation company headquartered in the United States that provides technology-driven school bus and ride services for K-12 students. The company partners with school districts to modernize student transportation through a platform that connects drivers, schools, parents, and students in real time, offering improved safety, visibility, and efficiency compared to traditional school bus operations. Zum emphasizes the use of data and technology to optimize routes and improve the overall transportation experience for families and school administrators. A core part of Zum's mission is accelerating the transition to clean transportation by deploying electric vehicles for student transit. The company has committed to electrifying its fleet and has partnered with school districts and utilities to introduce electric school buses, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality for children and communities. Zum positions itself as a leader in sustainable student mobility, aligning fleet electrification with broader climate goals. What makes Zum unique is its integrated approach combining a managed services model with proprietary technology and a growing electric vehicle fleet. Rather than simply selling software, Zum takes on the full operational responsibility of running transportation programs for school districts, making it easier for districts to transition to greener, more efficient systems without the burden of fleet ownership or logistics management.

About Zūm:

Zūm is revolutionizing mass mobility with its Connected Mobility Experience (Zūm CMX™) system that connects and coordinates people, vehicles, and operations in real time. In the $50 billion student mobility market – the largest segment of the mass mobility industry – Zūm CMX is transforming a daily source of anxiety and disruption into a reliable, transparent, and efficient mobility experience for students and families. Today, more than 4,500 schools rely on Zūm CMX. Recognized globally for its innovative approach and operational execution, Zūm has been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies, CNBC Disruptor 50 and Changemakers, the World Economic Forum, and the Financial Times’ Fastest Growing Companies lists. Zūm is backed by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, GIC, TPG, and Softbank.

This role is based at the Company’s headquarters in Redwood Shores, CA and requires you to be onsite 3x/week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). We will only consider candidates already based in the Bay Area.

Who You Are:

We are looking to add a Staff Engineer, Backend Platform to our Backend Engineering team. You will be responsible for hands-on contributions in building Zūm’s technology platform. At Zūm, we value developers who are self-driven and able to devise simple solutions to complex problems, and thrive in building products with full ownership that will have a significant impact on the company's business. If this sounds like you, then you will love this Job.

What You'll Do:

You will be a core contributor in designing the architecture of our Backend platform. Work with 2-4 backend developers to deliver high-quality product features Introduce tools and processes to scale (and accelerate) our development processes. Work with the Product and Design team to plan and deliver new product features Improve our existing Backend platform while adding new features and content to our product. Hands-on coding while you own the full development lifecycle—from ideation to deployment—and quickly see the impact of your work.

What You Bring To Zūm:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science (or equivalent).8+ years of industry experience as a Software Engineer or Staff Engineer.

• Proven experience building backend systems for enterprise-level applications across multiple platforms.

• Strong hands-on skills in architectural design and backend development.

• Experience with relational and non-relational databases.

• Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages: Node.js, Java, or Python.

• Hands-on experience deploying and managing applications in cloud environments (AWS or Google Cloud).

• Experience building scalable systems—both vertically and horizontally.

• Proficient in developing APIs for internal and external use with a strong focus on performance, scalability, and security.

• Experience with microservice-based architectures.

Other skills required to succeed in this role:

• Strong technical experience and eagerness to enforce and establish good coding conventions

• Good planning, organization, and decision-making skills

• Good communication with engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders

Bonus Points:

• Passionate about working for a mission-driven company

• Experience working in the transportation industry

• Strong experience with NodeJS and Typescript

The targeted base salary range for this role is listed in the compensation section below. Actual salary may be above or below this range based on factors such as location, skills, and relevant experience. In addition, this position may include additional compensation in the form of equity or commissions. If you are a full-time salaried or hourly worker, we offer the following benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Holidays, Wellness, Vacation, and more. The targeted pay range for this role in CA, USA is: $240,000 - $280,000 plus stock options.

Zūm Services, Inc. and all its subsidiaries provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.