6+ years building distributed systems and platform infrastructure. Strong expertise in database design, query optimization, and managing data at scale. Proficient in TypeScript, Node.js, React, Next.js, and Postgres. Experience building developer-facing infrastructure: APIs, SDKs, or internal tooling. Pragmatic technical decision-making: balancing technical excellence with business impact. Strong operational instincts: monitoring, alerting, debugging, and incident response. Excellent communication—translate complex technical concepts for various audiences. Startup experience preferred—you've built 0-to-1 products or scaled through hypergrowth. Experience with AI/ML infrastructure, LLM APIs, or vector databases (bonus). Open source contributions or technical writing demonstrating expertise (bonus).