Senior NodeJS Backend Dev to Build New Features Alongside CEO of a Global SaaS

NodeJS Backend Developer — Build the Future of Business Communication from Sardinia Contract: 3 months, with strong potential to extend into a long-term remote role Location: On-site in Sardinia, Italy — flights & accommodation fully covered Stack: Node.js · MongoDB · GCP The opportunity We're building new features for a business communication and customer support platform used by companies around the world — and we want a senior backend developer at the heart of that work. For the first three months, you'll fly to Sardinia and work side-by-side with our CEO. No Slack queues, no layers of product managers. Just you, the CEO, and the codebase — shipping real features that shape how millions of conversations happen between businesses and their customers. Our CEO is hands-on, and obsessed with how the craft of building software is changing. AI coding assistants, agentic tooling, modern dev workflows — he uses them daily and expects you to as well. This isn't a place where engineers roll their eyes at AI-assisted development or insist on doing things the way they did in 2015. We move at the speed the new tools allow. If it clicks (and we expect it will), the role continues remotely beyond three months. What you'll do Architect and ship backend services that power live messaging, automations, and support tooling at global scale. Design APIs, tune MongoDB against real production data, deploy on GCP, own features end-to-end. Write clean code, ship it, iterate. No hand-holding. Some new features are already at the prototype stage, and need your skills to connect the backend and go live. What we're looking for: Strong hands-on Node.js — you've shipped real production services. Deep MongoDB knowledge — schema design, indexing, aggregation, performance tuning. Comfortable on GCP — Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, Cloud Functions, IAM. Fluent with modern AI dev tools — Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, agentic workflows. You use them to ship faster, not as a gimmick. A real shipping record — features in production that users actually touch. Curiosity — you read changelogs, try new tools, update your workflow when something better lands. Clear written English and a collaborative style. Able to relocate to Sardinia for the initial three months. Who this isn't for: If AI-assisted coding makes you roll your eyes, or you've written code the same way for five years with no interest in changing — this won't fit. We want builders who are still hungry, still learning, and still excited about what they can ship this quarter that wasn't possible last year. Nice to have: Real-time systems (WebSockets, queues, pub/sub) Background in customer support, chat, or communication platforms Docker, CI/CD, observability tooling How to apply: Send your CV, links to backend work you're proud of, and a short note on the most interesting backend problem you've solved recently. Bonus points for how AI tools have changed the way you build. We reply within 48 hours. Let's build something great — on a Mediterranean island, with tools that didn't exist a year ago.