The Role
Lead design and implementation of backend cloud services for Direct-to-Cloud and Matter camera integration. Build low-latency, high-throughput APIs and event-driven microservices for live AV streaming and clip recording. Architect highly available AWS systems, drive technical direction, mentor engineers, collaborate cross-functionally with firmware, mobile, security and product teams, implement observability, and participate in on-call rotation to ensure reliable consumer production systems.
Summary Generated by Built In
We’re SmartThings, one of the leading IoT ecosystems in the world, creating the most effortless way for anyone to create a smart home. We're a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung with corporate offices in Minneapolis and the Bay Area.
More than 430 million people worldwide use SmartThings to control and manage their connected life. SmartThings delivers simple, powerful experiences across Samsung’s leading portfolio of phones, TVs, and appliances. We also offer the most versatile smart home experience as an open platform with a rich partner ecosystem (think IKEA, SONOS, Honeywell, and so many more). As a founding member of Matter, we are a leader in the industry to help make smart homes more secure, reliable and seamless to use. Come be a part of the leading edge of IoT innovation!
About The Team: The SmartThings Video & IoT Platform team powers the next generation of smart home experiences by integrating directly connected Audio/Video devices at massive scale. As Samsung SmartThings adopts the latest industry standards our team builds low-latency, dynamic cloud platforms supporting 1st-party and 3rd-party cameras. We primarily build event-driven distributed systems using JVM technologies (Kotlin, Scala), Python, and modern cloud-native AWS architectures.
More than 430 million people worldwide use SmartThings to control and manage their connected life. SmartThings delivers simple, powerful experiences across Samsung’s leading portfolio of phones, TVs, and appliances. We also offer the most versatile smart home experience as an open platform with a rich partner ecosystem (think IKEA, SONOS, Honeywell, and so many more). As a founding member of Matter, we are a leader in the industry to help make smart homes more secure, reliable and seamless to use. Come be a part of the leading edge of IoT innovation!
About The Team: The SmartThings Video & IoT Platform team powers the next generation of smart home experiences by integrating directly connected Audio/Video devices at massive scale. As Samsung SmartThings adopts the latest industry standards our team builds low-latency, dynamic cloud platforms supporting 1st-party and 3rd-party cameras. We primarily build event-driven distributed systems using JVM technologies (Kotlin, Scala), Python, and modern cloud-native AWS architectures.
About The Role: We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer with deep expertise in cloud architectures, real-time media streaming, and distributed systems. In this role, you will lead the design and implementation of cloud services connecting first-party and Matter-enabled cameras to the SmartThings platform. You will architect high-availability services using AWS (EC2, EKS/Kubernetes, Lambda, S3, ElastiCache, DynamoDB, EventBridge) and collaborate closely with firmware, matter, mobile, security and product engineering teams.
This role is hybrid, 3 days/week in our Minneapolis Office (on iconic St Anthony Main across from Downtown...with paid attached parking!).
The pay range for this role is $117,000 to $158,000, with an annual bonus target of 20%.
Key Responsibilities
In this role, your primary responsibilities will include the following:
- Architect & Build: Lead the backend design and implementation for Direct-to-Cloud and Edge/Matter camera integration within SmartThings.
- Scale & Performance: Build high-throughput, low-latency APIs and event-driven microservices to handle live AV streaming, clip recording, and video device management.
- Technical Leadership: Drive architectural discussions, system design reviews, and establish engineering best practices. Mentor other engineers on the team.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with firmware, mobile, matter, security, and product management teams to deliver seamless end-to-end device onboarding and streaming experiences.
- Operational Excellence: Participate in system observability setup (tracing, metrics, alerting) and join the team’s on-call rotation to ensure high availability and reliability for consumer-facing production systems.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
What You Bring On Day One (Required Qualifications)
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Comuputer Engineering or related
- 5+ years of production experience in backend software engineering, with demonstrated experience as a Senior technical contributor.
- High proficiency in JVM languages (Kotlin or Scala) as well as Python.
- Strong hands-on experience building distributed systems on AWS (EC2, K8s, Lambda, DynamoDB, ElastiCache).
- Experience with real-time video/audio streaming protocols (WebRTC) or event-driven streaming frameworks (Kafka, Kinesis, EventBridge).
- Proven track record of designing, scaling, and maintaining production REST/gRPC APIs and microservices.
- Strong system design capability, excellent communication skills, and a history of cross-functional technical collaboration.
- A passion for automating everything—from infrastructure (Terraform/CDK) to testing and deployment pipelines.
Desired Skills
- Experience with IoT protocols (Matter, Thread, MQTT, mTLS/PKI security frameworks).
- Deep experience in observability tools (Datadog, Sumo Logic, OpenTelemetry).
- Experience handling high-concurrency, low-latency media streams at scale.
SmartThings Benefits
Why You’ll Love Working at SmartThings
- We offer an attractive compensation package with comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health; an HSA with employer contribution; life & disability insurance; FSAs for health and dependent care expenses; a competitive 401k with a 5% employer match, and more.
- All of our employees enjoy unlimited PTO, 12 paid holidays, and a generous parental leave policy (8 weeks fully paid parental leave and 8 more fully paid weeks for childbirth recovery leave).
- Eligible employees benefit from our education reimbursement program, and all employees enjoy access to learning resources through O’Reilly.
- Our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is embedded into our culture and our work, and everyone has frequent opportunities to join forums and groups and participate in ongoing projects.
- We offer a parking stipend to cover the monthly garage cost. EV chargers are also onsite.
- In-office catered lunches on Thursdays.
- Access to the onsite gym.
Base compensation range for this position is $117,000 to $158,000. Actual base within this range will depend on many factors including experience, skills, technical expertise and market alignment. In addition, this role is eligible for a 20% annual target bonus based heavily on individual performance.
At SmartThings, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible environment for all. If you require accommodations to participate in our hiring process or to perform the requirements of the job, we will work with you to meet your needs in compliance with applicable laws. Please reach out to [email protected] and a member of our Talent Acquisition team will connect with you further!
At SmartThings, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible environment for all. If you require accommodations to participate in our hiring process or to perform the requirements of the job, we will work with you to meet your needs in compliance with applicable laws. Please reach out to [email protected] and a member of our Talent Acquisition team will connect with you further!
About
Creating a safer, smarter world with you.SmartThings brings your home to life by being the leading open platform for the consumer Internet of Things. Bringing together developers, device makers, and service providers to make the world a smarter place. From a door that knows when to lock itself, to a living room that can get the party started or a sink that can help to call a plumber; the opportunities are endless to make everyday objects around us more useful. So if you’re innovative, not afraid to challenge status quo, collaborative and have a passion for technology, then you’ve found your next home with SmartThings!
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related
- 5+ years production backend software engineering experience as a senior technical contributor
- High proficiency in JVM languages (Kotlin or Scala)
- Proficiency in Python
- Hands-on experience building distributed systems on AWS (EC2, EKS/Kubernetes, Lambda, DynamoDB, ElastiCache)
- Experience with real-time video/audio streaming protocols (WebRTC) or event-driven streaming frameworks (Kafka, Kinesis, EventBridge)
- Proven track record designing, scaling, and maintaining production REST/gRPC APIs and microservices
- Strong system design capability and excellent communication skills
- Experience automating infrastructure and pipelines (Terraform or CDK)
- Participate in on-call rotation and implement system observability (tracing, metrics, alerting)
- Experience with IoT protocols (Matter, Thread, MQTT) and security frameworks (mTLS/PKI)
- Experience with observability tools (Datadog, Sumo Logic, OpenTelemetry)
- Experience handling high-concurrency, low-latency media streams at scale
Am I A Good Fit?
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.
Success! Refresh the page to see how your skills align with this role.
The Company
What We Do
SmartThings provides cloud-based software and a smartphone app that allows users to monitor and control smart devices and domestic affairs remotely, creating an IoT ecosystem for smart homes.
