Did Big Tech downsize your employment?

If you are trying to figure out your next move and want to trade corporate bureaucracy for project ownership and maybe a much-needed change of scenery, then let’s talk. Skip the endless interview loops for another cog-in-the-machine job. Come build a radical primitive with us that will resolve the datacenter energy crisis AI has created.

About Us

Brand Harbor is an early-stage, stealth tech startup. We’ve built and validated our core functionality through our proprietary codebase. Now, we need the architectural muscle to turn it into an API-accessible platform and launch its production integration within our WebRTC project.

We are looking for a Platform Architect for an initial 90-day sprint. You will work directly with the founders and our offshore development team.

The Deal

• Duration: 90-Day Contract (with high potential for permanent employment).
• Location: On-Site, Saint Petersburg, Florida. (Perfect if you're looking for a fresh environment and a physical whiteboard to collaborate on).
• Compensation: Limited initial budget, but carries massive long-term upside, equity, and bonuses for achieving primary objective.
• The Vibe: Pure startup. Zero red tape. Direct founders’ collaboration. High autonomy, high ambiguity, and beautiful chaos.

Your Mission

Your primary objective is to spearhead the evolution of our existing codebase into an API-driven architecture and oversee its live deployment within our WebRTC project.

What you’ll do:

• Transition our architecture from a localized codebase to an API-accessible platform.
• Work with founders while coordinating development and deployment with our offshore programmers.
• Prove the concept: Deliver a functioning, API-driven implementation that shows exactly how our codebase will scale into future applications.

Core Responsibilities

1. Technical Assessment & Roadmap

• Review the existing codebase and identify necessary architectural changes to support seamless API access.
• Evaluate scalability and maintainability requirements to produce a practical, no-nonsense implementation roadmap.

2. API Architecture & Design

• Design clean API endpoints, service architecture, and integration specifications.
• Define robust authentication/authorization methods and establish developer documentation standards.

3. Offshore Team Leadership

• Break down the high-level architecture into actionable development tasks for offshore developers.
• Review implementation quality, resolve technical blockers, and keep milestones on schedule.

4. WebRTC Deployment

• Lead integration planning, defining the communication layer between our WebRTC deployment and the core codebase.
• Validate functionality through rigorous testing and document lessons learned for future integrations.

Qualifications & Tech Stack

The Requirements:

• Preferred: 3+ years of software engineering experience with a strong backend background.
• Proven experience designing/implementing secure API environments and platform governance models.
• Experience reviewing, refactoring, and improving existing codebases.
• Demonstrated ability to lead remote/offshore development teams and translate abstract business concepts into technical architecture.

The Stack:

• Languages & Frameworks: PHP, React, Vue, CSS, AJAX
• APIs & Auth: REST APIs, GraphQL, API Gateways, OAuth2, JWT Authentication, OpenAPI, API Design, API Management, API Security, JWT, OAuth2, Token-Based Authentication, Service Mesh, Event-Driven Architecture
• Data & Servers: PostgreSQL or MySQL, NGINX

Experience with one or more:

• WebRTC, Jitsi, lib-jitsi-meet or Real-Time Communications Systems.
• Video conferencing platforms (Zoom, Teams, Meet) or Live Streaming Pipelines.
• Distributed systems and media processing pipelines, SFU, MCU, Interactive Video

The Ideal Candidate: Attitude > Experience

Let’s be real: We are operating in a dynamic, rapidly changing, and sometimes chaotic startup environment. We have high expectations. We will push you. If you require a small army of Product Managers to hand you perfectly manicured Jira tickets, this isn't the role for you.

Your personality, grit, and adaptability are just as important as your engineering pedigree. You are someone who can walk into an unfamiliar, existing system, figure out what needs to be done, communicate clearly with programmers, and deliver results. You understand "startup realities." If your experience includes projects related to Zoom, Twilio, Agora, Daily, LiveKit, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Mux, Cloudflare, or large-scale streaming/video infrastructure teams, we want to talk. If it hasn’t, that’s ok too.

Ready for a change of scenery and a project you actually own? Let’s talk.

Pay: $6,000.00 - $8,500.00 per month

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Language:

• English (Required)

Location:

• Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Saint Petersburg, FL 33701: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person