Senior Full Stack Engineer

Company and Vision

PlanetArt’s vision is to be the leading seller of personalized and make-on-demand products worldwide. We provide consumers with unmatched tools and content and an unparalleled end-to-end customer experience that result in high-quality, meaningful finished products and memorable celebrations of live events.

The company’s brands include the popular FreePrints and FreePrints Photobooks apps and the industry leading SimplytoImpress card and stationery site, as well as Personal Creations, CafePress and ISeeMe! Visit www.planetart.com to learn more about our brands.

We have more than 500 team members across multiple offices, primarily in Calabasas CA, San Diego CA, Woodridge IL, Minneapolis, MN and Pleasanton, CA. We also have team members in two company-owned offices in China, as well as in Europe.

Job Overview

PlanetArt is seeking a Senior Full-Stack Engineer to support the company’s technology initiatives and lead its engineering efforts. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, the Senior Full-Stack Engineer will play a critical role in building, maintaining, and improving our LAMP-based web applications while ensuring the reliability and performance of our production environment. This role will own end-to-end feature development, debug complex issues, and respond to urgent production incidents with calm, senior-level judgment. The engineer will work hands-on in AWS to manage infrastructure changes, optimize deployments, and strengthen overall system stability, while collaborating closely with our China-based web development team to align on feature development, code quality, and project timelines. This is a highly impactful position for an experienced engineer who thrives in fast-paced environments and enjoys both deep application work and modern cloud operations.

PLEASE NOTE: Candidates much be local to or willing to relocate to the Calabasas area as we operate on a hybrid work model (3 days onsite, 2 remote)

What You’ll Do
Key Responsibilities

• Full-Stack Development: Design, implement, and maintain features across our LAMP-based web applications, ensuring high performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Code Debugging and Troubleshooting: Investigate, diagnose, and resolve complex issues in production and development environments, with a focus on urgent incident response.
• AWS Infrastructure Management: Deploy, configure, and manage application infrastructure on AWS, including scaling, security, and cost optimization.
• Collaboration with China-Based Team: Work closely with the China-based web development team to coordinate feature development, code reviews, and release schedules, ensuring alignment across global teams.
• Code Quality and Best Practices: Maintain high standards of code quality, documentation, and testing, including automated unit tests, integration tests, and peer reviews.
• Performance Monitoring and Optimization: Continuously monitor application and system performance, implementing improvements and preventative measures to reduce downtime and enhance user experience.
• Technical Leadership: Provide guidance and mentorship to junior engineers, assisting in problem-solving and promoting best practices across the team.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product, Design, and Operations teams to understand requirements, prioritize tasks, and deliver high-quality solutions on schedule.

What You Should Have
Skills, Qualifications, and Requirements

• Proven Full-Stack Experience: 5+ years of professional experience developing and maintaining web applications using the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP).
• AWS Proficiency: Hands-on experience with AWS services including EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, DynamoDB, and related deployment and scaling tools.
• Debugging and Troubleshooting Expertise: Strong ability to analyze, diagnose, and resolve complex production issues quickly and effectively.
• Collaboration Across Time Zones: Experience working with distributed or offshore development teams, with excellent communication and coordination skills.
• Mandarin Language Skills (Highly Desirable): Ability to communicate in Mandarin (spoken or written) to facilitate collaboration with our China-based web development team.
• Code Quality and Testing: Solid understanding of software engineering best practices, including version control (Git), automated testing, and code review processes.
• Performance Optimization: Ability to monitor, profile, and optimize both application and database performance for large-scale web applications.
• Problem-Solving and Initiative: Self-starter with strong analytical skills, able to take ownership of tasks and lead projects from conception through deployment.
• Technical Mentorship: Experience mentoring junior developers or guiding engineering teams on best practices and architectural decisions.

What You Can Expect
Working Conditions

• Work is performed in an office environment with low to moderate noise levels.
• Position requires regular, continuous use of computer.
• Position requires regular sitting and standing.
• Position requires regular interaction with team members through the following methods: in-person, phone, WebEx, Slack, or email.
• May require occasional travel.
• This is a hybrid position; employees are expected to be in the office three days per week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) with the option of working remotely two days (Wednesday and Friday).

The compensation range for this position is $130,000-$180,000 annual salary + bonus.

PlanetArt offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Mental Health Insurance
• 401(k) with matching
• Excellent Work/Life Balance – Paid Time Off, Sick Days, Paid Holidays, and Floating Holidays
• Employee Product Discounts