Lead Software Engineer - Backend

Overview

At Freshworks, we don’t just ship software—we shape it to be fast, reliable, and refreshingly simple. As a Lead Backend Engineer, you’ll build the scalable systems that drive our global products—and do it with clarity, ownership, and a sharp eye for design. You’ll lead backend modules end-to-end, influence architecture across teams, and raise the bar on performance, stability, and code quality.

If you obsess over time and space complexity, love breaking down tough problems, and take pride in helping others level up—you’ll feel right at home.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build scalable backend services that handle millions of transactions reliably.
• Own the full development lifecycle: from high-level design to deployment and debugging.
• Write clean, modular, and testable code—optimised for both readability and performance.
• Apply deep OOPS concepts and design patterns to solve real-world engineering problems.
• Ensure systems are tuned for high availability, fault tolerance, and observability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product, Frontend, SRE) to deliver customer value fast.
• Lead code reviews, mentor 2–3 engineers, and drive engineering best practices across the team. Elevate overall code quality.
• Troubleshoot performance bottlenecks in production and drive long-term stability improvements.
• Influence platform direction through architectural reviews and roadmap planning.

Requirements

• Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA):

  Expertise in selecting optimal data structures and developing efficient, optimized code including time/space complexity trade-offs. Deep knowledge of REST APIs.

• Problem Solving & Logical Analysis:

  Ability to clearly articulate thought processes, decompose complex problems, and engineer effective solutions.

• Object-Oriented Design (OOD):

  Strong command of OOP principles, designing extensible code, and applying SOLID principles.

• System Design (High-Level Design - HLD & LLD):

  Proven ability to design scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant end-to-end systems, including APIs, schema, and data models.
• Exposure to RDBMS, caching strategies, distributed queues, and microservices.
• Exposure and experience with AI tools and technologies to improve efficiency

• Leadership & Collaboration:

  Demonstrates strong ownership, collaborates effectively, and shows potential for mentoring.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 6 to 8 years of experience building and scaling backend systems in fast-paced product teams.
• You’re skilled at balancing fast delivery with long-term scalability.
• You think clearly in code and architecture diagrams.
• You’ve shipped features at scale and supported them in production.
• You love working in collaborative, agile teams—and mentoring others along the way.
  

Additional Information

At Freshworks, we are creating a global workplace that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity. We are committed to providing equal opportunity for all and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer work environment that advances the goals of our employees, communities and the business.