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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Node.js Engineer

💰 $95,000 - $175,000

Software EngineeringBackend DevelopmentITTechnology

🎯 Role Definition

A Node.js Engineer is a specialized backend developer who architects, builds, and maintains the server-side of web applications. They are the driving force behind the services that power user-facing features, ensuring that applications are fast, scalable, secure, and reliable. This role is pivotal in modern tech stacks, as they build the critical APIs and microservices that connect everything from frontend web clients and mobile apps to databases and other third-party services. They are problem-solvers who thrive on creating efficient, low-latency systems and are experts in the asynchronous, event-driven nature of the Node.js runtime environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Software Developer
  • Full Stack Developer (with a JavaScript focus)
  • Frontend Developer (seeking to transition to backend)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Node.js Engineer
  • Backend Architect or Solutions Architect
  • Engineering Manager or Tech Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • DevOps Engineer
  • Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
  • Cloud Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design, develop, and maintain high-performance, scalable, and highly available backend services and APIs using the Node.js runtime environment.
  • Write clean, efficient, reusable, and thoroughly testable JavaScript and TypeScript code, adhering to established best practices and coding standards.
  • Architect and implement robust RESTful APIs and GraphQL schemas to support a wide range of client applications, including web and mobile platforms.
  • Integrate server-side logic with various data storage solutions, demonstrating expertise in both relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis, DynamoDB) databases.
  • Lead the design and construction of distributed systems and microservices-based architectures, ensuring effective service-to-service communication, fault tolerance, and data consistency.
  • Implement comprehensive unit, integration, and end-to-end testing strategies using frameworks like Jest, Mocha, or Chai to guarantee code quality and system reliability.
  • Collaborate closely with frontend developers to define clear API contracts and ensure seamless, efficient integration between the client and server components.
  • Work alongside DevOps teams to configure and manage continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for automated testing and frictionless deployments.
  • Proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and debug complex issues in production environments to ensure optimal system stability, performance, and uptime.
  • Enforce application security by implementing robust authentication, authorization, and data protection measures, utilizing protocols like OAuth 2.0 and JWT.
  • Systematically optimize application performance by identifying and resolving bottlenecks, refining database queries, and implementing effective caching strategies.
  • Actively participate in peer code reviews, providing and receiving constructive feedback to uphold high code quality standards and foster a culture of collaboration.
  • Develop real-time application features using technologies such as WebSockets or Server-Sent Events (SSE) to deliver dynamic user experiences.
  • Containerize applications using Docker and manage deployments using orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to ensure consistency across environments.
  • Leverage cloud platform services (primarily AWS, GCP, or Azure) for application hosting, managed databases, message queues, and other essential infrastructure components.
  • Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation for APIs, system architecture, and development processes to support knowledge sharing and onboarding.
  • Translate abstract business requirements and user stories from product managers into detailed technical specifications and tangible, functional code.
  • Stay current with emerging trends, frameworks, and best practices within the Node.js ecosystem to drive innovation and continuous improvement.
  • Manage and version database schemas and migrations to ensure data integrity and smooth updates across application versions.
  • Implement and manage event-driven architectures using message brokers like RabbitMQ or Kafka to enable asynchronous communication between services.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to provide insights to business stakeholders.
  • Contribute to the organization's broader technology strategy and architectural roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units, product owners, and designers to translate functional needs into robust engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies as an active member of the engineering team.
  • Mentor junior engineers through pair programming, code reviews, and knowledge-sharing sessions to help level up the team.
  • Assist in the evaluation and proof-of-concept for new technologies, libraries, and tools to enhance the development stack and team productivity.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-level proficiency in Node.js and its core principles, including the event loop, streams, and asynchronous programming patterns.
  • Strong command of modern JavaScript (ES6+ features) and/or TypeScript for building type-safe, scalable applications.
  • Extensive experience with at least one major Node.js web framework, such as Express.js, NestJS, or Koa.js.
  • Deep understanding of API design principles for building and consuming both RESTful APIs and GraphQL services.
  • Proven experience with a variety of database technologies, including SQL (e.g., PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Redis).
  • Practical knowledge of containerization with Docker and familiarity with container orchestration using Kubernetes or a similar tool.
  • Hands-on experience deploying and managing applications on a major cloud platform like AWS, GCP, or Azure.
  • Proficiency in writing and maintaining a comprehensive suite of automated tests using frameworks like Jest, Mocha, and Supertest.
  • Solid understanding of microservices architecture, distributed systems concepts, and inter-service communication patterns.
  • Mastery of version control with Git, including branching strategies and collaborative workflows like pull requests.
  • Familiarity with CI/CD principles and experience working with tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with a talent for debugging complex systems.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
  • A proactive, self-motivated mindset and a strong sense of ownership over your work.
  • The ability to thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced Agile/Scrum environment.
  • Meticulous attention to detail and a deep-seated commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable software.
  • A team-oriented attitude with a willingness to mentor others and contribute to a positive team culture.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • A Bachelor's Degree or equivalent practical experience in a professional software development setting.

Preferred Education:

  • A Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in a technical field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Software Engineering
  • Information Technology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3-7 years of professional experience in software development, with a significant focus on backend engineering.

Preferred:

  • A demonstrable portfolio of work (e.g., a public GitHub profile) that showcases backend projects and a track record of shipping production-ready applications. Experience in a high-growth, product-driven environment is a strong plus.
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