Senior Server Engineer, Identity Platform

About This Role

Strava is the app for active people. With over 150 million athletes in more than 185 countries, Strava is where connection, motivation, and personal bests thrive. No matter your activity, gear, or goals, we help you find your crew, crush your milestones, and keep moving forward.

Our mission is simple: to motivate people to live their best active lives. We believe in the power of movement to connect and drive people forward.

We’re looking for a Senior Server Engineer to join our Identity Engineering Team, the group responsible for how every athlete securely accesses their Strava experience. Identity at Strava is more than login screens, it’s the platform that ensures trust, security, and continuity across all our applications and surfaces.

We follow a flexible hybrid model that translates to more than half of your time on-site in our San Francisco office — three days per week.

What You’ll Do:

• Build core Identity platform capabilities, including authentication, authorization, token lifecycle management, session continuity, and account security systems.

• Develop scalable, reliable server-side services that support sign-up, login, account recovery, MFA/passkeys, and cross-application identity.

• Design and evolve modern identity protocols, integrating standards like OAuth 2.0, OIDC, WebAuthn, biometrics, and secure token exchange.

• Improve identity flows across iOS, Android, and web, balancing frictionless user experience with world-class security.

• Partner with cross-functional teams—Product, Security, Trust & Safety, Legal, and Mobile/Web Engineering—to build identity foundations that enable safety, privacy, and growth.

• Drive technical excellence, contributing thoughtful architectural perspectives and shaping long-term Identity strategies.

• Mentor and support fellow engineers, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-trust environment.

• Influence system design across teams, using deep identity expertise to lead discussions around security, performance, and scalability.

What You’ll Bring to the Team:

• 7+ years of experience building production backend systems in languages such as Ruby, Java, Scala, Go, or Python.

• Proven experience with authentication, authorization, SSO, identity protocols, or account security systems at scale.

• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, relational/NoSQL databases, and technologies like MySQL, Redis, Cassandra, Kafka, or Kubernetes.

• Familiarity with or interest in modern identity technologies, such as OAuth 2.0/OIDC, WebAuthn, passkeys, MFA, and session management.

• A track record of building secure, high-performance services that handle sensitive data responsibly.

• Comfort navigating the intersection of security, user experience, and platform architecture.

• A collaborative spirit, someone who communicates clearly, lifts others up, and thrives in a team that values mentorship and learning.

Compensation Overview:

At Strava, we know our employees are the most important ingredient to our success, and our compensation and total rewards programs reflect that. We take a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on the department and your location. Salary ranges are categorized into one of three tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. We will determine the candidate’s starting pay based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. We may modify these ranges in the future. For more information, please contact your talent partner.

Compensation: $180,375 - $200,850. The base salary posted is within the compensation range for this role. This range reflects base pay only and does not include equity or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

For more information on benefits, please click here.

Why Join Us?

Movement brings us together. At Strava, we’re building the world’s largest community of active people, helping them stay motivated and achieve their goals.

Our global team is passionate about making movement fun, meaningful, and accessible to everyone. Whether you’re shaping the technology, growing our community, or driving innovation, your work at Strava makes an impact.

When you join Strava, you’re not just joining a company—you’re joining a movement. If you’re ready to bring your energy, ideas, and drive, let’s build something incredible together.

Strava builds software that makes the best part of our athletes’ days even better. Just as we’re deeply committed to unlocking their potential, we’re dedicated to providing a world-class, inclusive workplace where our employees can grow and thrive, too. We’re backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, Madrone Partners and Jackson Square Ventures, and we’re expanding in order to exceed the needs of our growing community of global athletes. Our culture reflects our community. We are continuously striving to hire and engage teammates from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives because we know we are a stronger team together.

Strava is an equal opportunity employer. In keeping with the values of Strava, we make all employment decisions including hiring, evaluation, termination, promotional and training opportunities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical handicap, mental disability, medical condition, disability, gender or identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, marital status, height and/or weight.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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