Software Engineer, Pub/Sub
Skills
About the Role
You will join the Pub/Sub team owning the core backend behind Ably's realtime edge messaging platform. You will work hands-on across products like low-level Pub/Sub APIs, the LiveObjects state synchronisation layer, and AI Transport, shipping new features, performance improvements, bug fixes, and maintenance. You will use AI tools for planning, spike work, code generation, and documentation while owning correctness and architectural quality. You will solve genuinely hard distributed systems problems at planet scale, collaborate with talented engineers, and move with urgency to ship work that impacts developers building on the platform. You will follow 'Developer First' principles, identifying and addressing the most important problems developers face when building on Ably.
Requirements
- Strong interest in or direct experience with distributed systems and large-scale infrastructure
- Experience working with or building messaging queues, pub/sub systems, or streaming systems at scale
- Extensive experience with a high-level server-side language (Node.js or Go preferred)
- Ability to self-start, work through ambiguity, and make good decisions independently
- Practical experience with AI tooling
- Transparent, collaborative 'build in the open' mindset
- Experience in dynamic, early-stage environments
- Bonus: experience building developer-first products
- Bonus: experience with product-led growth products
Responsibilities
- Deliver key platform functionality across Ably's realtime products including Pub/Sub APIs, LiveObjects, and AI Transport
- Ship new features, performance improvements, bug fixes, and maintenance
- Use AI tools for planning, spike work, code generation, and documentation while owning correctness and architectural quality
- Solve hard distributed systems problems at planet scale
- Collaborate with engineers to identify and address the most important problems developers face
- Ship work with urgency to maximize customer impact
Benefits
- Remote-first and flexible work environment
- EMI share options programme
- 28 days of paid annual leave plus a birthday day off
- Enhanced parental leave package
- Home workstation budget of £500 on joining and £150 per year thereafter
- Personal learning and development budget of £1000 annually with 5% L&D time
- Private healthcare with BUPA
- Medical cash plan for medical and dental costs
- Mental wellbeing coaching and counselling
- Monthly wellbeing budget via Juno
- Life assurance and income protection
- Tech and Cycle to Work schemes
- Weekly snack allowance
- Fully-paid one-month sabbatical after five years
