Backend/Data Engineer

About Metron

Metron is a leading provider of AI-enabled smart water management solutions delivering real-time water use intelligence through both advanced monitoring hardware and WaterScope software, enabling customers to identify risks, reduce consumption, and increase property values. With 30+ years of experience, 8,000+ networked customers, and 500,000+ installed devices saving over one billion gallons of water, Metron has achieved market-leading year-over-year growth in the digital water space. Following a strategic partnership with XPV Water Partners in 2019, Metron is positioned to expand into additional Real Estate segments and Utilities, while continuing to deliver innovative data insights and hardware solutions globally to help governments and companies manage water effectively and efficiently. We seek passionate self-starters to join our software product and engineering team as we address the world’s most critical water challenges.

Position Overview

We’re looking for a backend engineer with data engineering experience to join our small, collaborative engineering team. You’ll play a key role in building the data infrastructure that powers our smart water meter platform and emerging data products initiative. This role combines backend engineering with practical data engineering challenges at a scale that requires thoughtful architecture without unnecessary complexity.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain data processing pipelines that handle diverse sensor payloads (daily uploads, real-time streams) and enable fast aggregations across millions of data points
• Develop backend services and APIs that support both our core water management platform and new data products (geographic benchmarking, third-party integrations)
• Work with multiple database technologies including PostgreSQL (our primary store), AWS data services, and time-series data modeling
• Help evolve our data platform by evaluating and implementing appropriate modern data tools as we scale
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to deliver solutions that directly impact our customers’ water management capabilities
• Contribute to our AWS infrastructure using CDK, Lambda, SNS/SQS, and other services
• Support platform growth as we scale from 800K+ deployed meters toward millions

Qualifications

• 3-7 years of backend engineering experience with Go, Python, TypeScript, or similar languages
• Hands-on data engineering experience - you’ve built data pipelines, ETL processes, and worked with various data formats
• Some exposure to modern data platforms like Snowflake, Redshift, or BigQuery, and/or transformation tools like dbt (deep expertise not required)
• Strong PostgreSQL skills including schema design, query optimization, and working with time-series data
• AWS experience particularly with Lambda, S3, and event-driven architectures (SNS/SQS)
• Problem-solving mindset with a focus on building practical, maintainable solutions
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with a remote team

Bonus Points For

• Experience with data orchestration tools (Airflow, Dagster, etc.)
• Familiarity with IoT data patterns and sensor data processing
• Knowledge of time-series databases and optimization strategies
• Experience integrating third-party APIs and data sources
• Interest in water technology, sustainability, or environmental applications

Our Tech Stack

• Languages: Go, Python, TypeScript (and possibly Rust)
• Databases: PostgreSQL, AWS data services (DynamoDB, S3, etc.)
• Data Processing: SNS/SQS pipelines, Lambda, batch processing
• Data Platform: Exploring modern data stack tools as we grow
• Infrastructure: AWS CDK, GitHub Actions
• Scale: 1+ billion data points per day, 10s-100s of GB processing volumes

What We Offer

• High-impact role where your contributions directly shape our data infrastructure and products
• Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements across U.S. and Canadian time zones
• Growth opportunities - learn from senior engineers while having ownership over meaningful projects
• Mission-driven work - help utilities and property managers make data-driven decisions about water conservation
• Collaborative, low-ego culture where learning and pragmatic solutions are valued
• Clear career progression as we scale the team and platform

About This Role

This position is perfect for an engineer who wants to work at the intersection of backend systems and data engineering. You’ll tackle practical challenges like:

• Processing daily uploads from 800,000+ smart meters (scaling to millions)
• Building systems that quickly analyze water usage patterns across multiple dimensions
• Creating flexible ingestion pipelines for various meter data formats
• Developing APIs for both internal applications and external data products
• Helping evaluate and implement appropriate data tools for our scale

We’re not dealing with petabyte-scale problems, but rather solving real data engineering challenges that require thoughtful architecture and solid database skills. You’ll have the opportunity to make architectural decisions that matter, without the overhead of unnecessarily complex “big data” solutions.

Our Team

We’re a small, focused engineering team that values ownership, continuous learning, and pragmatic problem-solving. We believe in using the right tool for the job, writing maintainable code, and building systems that scale appropriately. You’ll work closely with product and engineering leadership, have visibility into business decisions, and see the direct impact of your work on our customers and mission.

Company Culture and Mission

Metron is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity, equity, and inclusion drive innovation. We embrace initiatives that promote employee well-being. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action workplace, prohibiting discrimination and harassment of any kind.

Join the Metron team today!

Be part of a team that creates advanced technology solutions to transform water usage, conservation, and re-use. Our products and services impact public utilities, industrial sectors, residential areas, and commercial buildings. Partner with us to tackle global water challenges with ingenuity and dedication.