Senior 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

Competitive compensation

Global career opportunities

Paid time off

Learning and certification support

Volunteer opportunities

Job summary

EPAM Systems is seeking a Senior Backend Developer to join the AI Pods team. You will design and build robust backend API services and LLM orchestration layers, owning API contracts and end-to-end reliability.

You will integrate LLMs with secure, scalable architectures, implement RAG pipelines, and develop agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph and related frameworks, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of backend engineering experience in microservices
• Proficiency in Python for cloud-native APIs
• Experience with AWS, Docker, and container orchestration
• Knowledge of RESTful APIs and secure coding practices
• English proficiency at B2 level or higher

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend API services and LLM orchestration layers
• Own API contracts and service reliability end-to-end
• Integrate LLMs with secure, scalable systems
• Implement RAG pipelines with ingestion, embedding, retrieval
• Develop agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, MCP
• Build orchestration frameworks for downstream developers
• Ensure security, observability, and test coverage
• Contribute to architecture decisions and standards
• Collaborate with frontend, data, and infrastructure teams

Skills

Python

Backend engineering

Microservices

AWS

Docker

ECS/EKS

RESTful APIs

Security best practices

English (B2+)

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

LlamaIndex

LangSmith

OpenAI

OpenSearch

Amazon Kendra

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.

We are seeking a Senior Backend Developer to join our AI Pods team, building robust AI-powered API services and agentic workflows. This role focuses on language model interaction with internal systems, vector databases, and external tools via orchestration frameworks, treating LLMs as components in a secure, scalable distributed system.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend API services and LLM orchestration layers
• Own API contracts and service reliability end-to-end, ensuring AI edge cases fail gracefully
• Integrate LLMs using rigorous systems engineering, bake in evaluation, observability, fallback handling, and cost awareness
• Implement and maintain complex RAG pipelines, including document ingestion, chunking, embedding, and retrieval optimization
• Develop and connect agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, and potentially MCP (Model Context Protocol)
• Build reliable, 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

• 3+ years of backend engineering experience, focused on microservices and distributed systems
• Proficiency in Python for high-performance backend services and cloud-native APIs
• Familiarity with AWS, Docker, and ECS/EKS
• Knowledge of RESTful APIs
• Understanding of secure coding practices and strong auth/authz fundamentals
• English proficiency at B2 level or higher

Nice to have

• 1+ 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.