Senior Backed Engineer (TypeScript) [Prisma Postgres]

Job description

Prisma Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Join or sign in to find your next job

Join to apply for the Senior Backed Engineer (TypeScript) (Prisma Postgres) role at Prisma

At Prisma, we’re redefining how developers work with databases.

If you’re fascinated by the cutting‑edge data infrastructure powering companies like Twitter, Airbnb, and Facebook, but want the agility, ownership, and impact of a fast‑moving startup, Prisma is the place for you.

Backed by top‑tier Silicon Valley investors – Amplify Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and IVP – our small, distributed team makes advanced database technology accessible to developers everywhere.

Our open‑source tools are trusted by over 400,000 developers each month, with a thriving community on Discord and GitHub, where we’ve earned 43,000+ GitHub Stars.

At the heart of our commercial offerings is Prisma Postgres, our flagship product designed to supercharge PostgreSQL with modern developer workflows, performance optimizations, and seamless scaling.

Alongside it, Prisma Accelerate and Studio provide a world‑class toolkit for building with data.

By combining the power of open‑source with cutting‑edge commercial solutions, we’re shaping the future of databases, one developer at a time.

What would you do at Prisma?

You’ll be part of the Prisma Data Platform team which is responsible for Accelerate, Prisma Postgres and the bare metal cloud that those products are built on.

You'll be contributing across the stack to the projects of the team.

To give you a clear idea of what the job could entail, here are some examples of the work we’ve done lately or will start soon:

• Design, implement and deploy a WebSocket server that will allow customers to connect to Prisma Postgres from WASM environments where TCP connections are unavailable.
  
  
• Work closely with the ORM team to define the protocol of that server so they can implement the client adapter.
  
  
• Choose and deploy a globally distributed configuration store (like etcd, rqlite) for encrypted authentication secrets to enable global routing for Prisma Postgres.
  
  
• Work together with an infra engineer to improve automation of our bare metal servers with the goal to reduce the provisioning time of new servers.
  
  
• Troubleshoot and fix a bug where a customer experiences sporadic connectivity issues.
  
  

An Ideal Candidate Profile

• 8+ years experience in agile software engineering teams, delivering robust web applications using TypeScript, NodeJS and Go.
• Experience in building and scaling distributed systems.
  
  Experience with bare metal servers is a plus.
  
  
• Experience in database and backend technologies like SQL/NoSQL databases and familiarity with cloud services, APIs (GraphQL/REST).
  
  
• High standards for quality, ensuring excellence while balancing pragmatism, purpose, and a strong sense of agency—taking ownership, making thoughtful trade‑offs, and driving meaningful impact.
  
  
• Strong communication skills in English, both written and verbal—able to articulate complex ideas clearly, adapt messaging to different audiences, give and receive constructive feedback effectively, and foster collaboration across teams.
  
  
• You have a structured thought process, approaching problems methodically and making well‑reasoned decisions.
  
  You plan effectively, setting clear goals, anticipating challenges, and ensuring smooth execution while keeping stakeholders aligned.
  
  

What’s it like to work at Prisma?

• Own the decision‑making and execution as an Engineering Manager leading the ORM team.
  
  
• Stay nimble—things change often and you’re ready to re‑calibrate and stay flexible.
  
  
• Be kind and collaborative—share ideas and listen to feedback.
  
  

What’s in it for you?

• An opportunity to lead the team shaping Prisma’s cutting‑edge cloud products, driving innovation in modern database tooling and redefining how developers build and scale applications.
  
  
• A fun and supportive team that values collaboration, growth, and continuous learning.
  
  
• Competitive base salary and stock options, including extended post‑termination exercise windows.
  
  
• Fully remote work with flexibility to work from anywhere within our required time zones.
  
  If you prefer an office environment, we provide access to a local co‑working space for up to ten days per month.
  
  
• Generous time off, including twenty‑four days of paid vacation and paid sick leave.
  
  
• Parental benefits, including twenty‑week fully paid parental leave and child sick leave.
  
  
• Sabbatical leave, with six weeks of fully paid time off after three years of continuous employment.
  
  
• Mental health support, including four fully paid mental health days per year and access to professional resources.
  
  
• Tech and ergonomic budget to equip you with the tools you need, plus an ergonomic chair subsidy for your comfort and well‑being.
  
  
• Annual offsites, bringing the team together twice a year with all‑expenses‑paid retreats at exciting locations.
  
  
• Relocation support, offering a relocation package for team members moving to Berlin after twelve months, if you choose to relocate.
  
  
• (US) Health and pension benefits, including comprehensive health, dental, vision, and 401k matching.
  
  

Remote Work

To ensure effective collaboration we can currently only accept candidates within the time zone GMT – 2 to GMT + 3 for this position.

What is our hiring process like?

• Introductory call with our future manager.
  
  
• Take‑home assignment followed by a debrief call.
  
  
• System design interview with one of our peer engineers.
  
  
• Interview with our Head of Engineering.
  
  
• Final interview with our CEO / COO.
  
  
• Offer.
  
  

Equal Opportunity

In line with our Fair Treatment and Equal Opportunity Policy, as well as our Disability Policy, Prisma follows fair and merit‑based hiring practices, ensuring all candidates are evaluated based on their skills, experience, and qualifications.

We do not make hiring decisions based on age, race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, parental or caregiver status, trade union membership, disability, religious belief or lack of belief, life expectancy, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran or military status.

References

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Prisma by 2x.

Get notified about new Senior Engineer jobs in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Required Skill Profession

Networks & Systems, Telecommunication & Information Technology