Lead Backend Developer, AI Pods

EPAM Systems; Colombia; On-site; COP 120,000,000 - 180,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Paid time off and sick leave

Upskilling, reskilling and certificate

Job summary

EPAM Systems is seeking a Lead Backend Developer to deliver secure, scalable AI-driven API services and agentic workflows. You will connect language models to internal systems, vector databases, and external tools via orchestration frameworks, treating LLMs as distributed components.

Responsibilities include designing backend services, owning API contracts, and ensuring security, observability, and cost-aware design across all workflows, while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 5+ years backend engineering in microservices/distributed systems.
• Proficient in Python to build high-performance services.
• Experience with AWS, Docker, and ECS/EKS.
• Strong RESTful API design and secure coding practices.
• English at least B2 level.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend API services with LLM orchestration layers.
• Own API contracts and service reliability end-to-end.
• Integrate LLMs with observability, evaluation, and cost awareness.
• Develop RAG pipelines for document ingestion and retrieval.
• Build agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, and MCP when applicable.
• Create reusable orchestration frameworks for downstream developers.
• Ensure security, privacy, observability, and test coverage across workflows.
• Contribute to architecture decisions and engineering standards.
• Collaborate with frontend, data, and infrastructure teams.

Skills

Backend engineering

Python

AWS

RESTful APIs

Docker

ECS/EKS

Security best practices

English proficiency

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

OpenAI API

OpenSearch

Job description

EPAM is a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and development services. We are committed to having a positive impact on our customers, our employees, and our communities. We embrace a dynamic and inclusive culture. Here you will collaborate with multi-national teams, contribute to a myriad of innovative projects that deliver the most creative and cutting-edge solutions, and have an opportunity to continuously learn and grow. No matter where you are located, you will join a dedicated, creative, and diverse community that will help you discover your fullest potential.

Lead Backend Developer to deliver secure, scalable AI-driven API services and agentic workflows for our AI Pods. You will connect language models to internal systems, vector databases, and external tools via orchestration frameworks, treating LLMs as distributed components.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend API services along with LLM orchestration layers
• Own API contracts and service reliability end-to-end, ensuring AI edge cases fail gracefully
• Integrate LLMs with disciplined systems engineering, including evaluation, observability, fallback handling, and cost awareness
• Implement and maintain advanced RAG pipelines, covering document ingestion, chunking, embedding, and retrieval optimization
• Develop and connect agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, and potentially MCP (Model Context Protocol)
• Build dependable, reusable orchestration frameworks and logic for downstream developer consumption
• Ensure security, privacy, enterprise-grade observability, and test coverage across all backend workflows
• Contribute to architecture decisions and engineering standards within the pod
• Collaborate with frontend engineers, data engineers, and infrastructure teams

Requirements

• Proven backend engineering experience (5+ years) centered on microservices and distributed systems
• Hands-on proficiency in Python to build high-performance backend services and cloud-native APIs
• Working knowledge of AWS plus containerization with Docker and orchestration via ECS/EKS
• Strong understanding of RESTful APIs and practical API design experience
• Solid grasp of secure coding practices, including strong auth/authz fundamentals
• English proficiency at B2 (Upper-Intermediate) level or higher

Nice to have

• 2+ years of hands-on experience with AI SDKs (OpenAI, Anthropic/Claude, AWS Bedrock, or equivalent) in production
• Practical experience with vector databases (Amazon Kendra, OpenSearch), embedding strategies, and retrieval systems
• Hands-on experience with LangChain, LlamaIndex, or LangGraph
• Familiarity with AI evaluation tooling or real-time APM (LangSmith, Langfuse, Arize)
• Skills in React and TypeScript
• Experience deploying to EKS environments at scale
• Understanding of agent interoperability patterns (MCP)
• Knowledge of identity/security domain (IAM, CIAM)
• Flexibility to use secondary languages such as Java, Node.js, or Go

We offer

• International projects with top brands
• Work with global teams of highly skilled, diverse peers
• Healthcare benefits
• Employee financial programs
• Paid time off and sick leave
• Upskilling, reskilling and certification courses
• Unlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning library and 22,000+ courses
• Global career opportunities
• Volunteer and community involvement opportunities
• EPAM Employee Groups
• Award-winning culture recognized by Glassdoor, Newsweek and LinkedIn

EPAM is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.