AI Backend Engineer – Senior Associate – Riyadh

PwC Middle East; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

PwC Middle East is seeking an AI Backend Engineer to join our AI Centre of Excellence, delivering backend services powering AI products from strategy to execution. You will design RESTful APIs, build modular AI-enabled services, and collaborate across multi-location teams to optimize performance and cost.

Requires 1–3 years in backend engineering, experience with RESTful APIs, containers, and CI/CD. Strong communication in English; Arabic preferred.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of backend engineering experience, including exposure to building AI-enabled solutions.
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs.
• Hands-on experience with containerized services and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement RESTful APIs for authentication, data access, and system health checks.
• Develop modular services to handle model inference, prompt orchestration, and pipeline management.
• Orchestrate background and asynchronous tasks for long-running AI workloads.
• Integrate with leading LLM platforms (e.g., Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Hugging Face) and optimize calls for performance and cost.
• Containerize services using Docker and DockerCompose, and collaborate on CI/CD pipelines.
• Help manage and scale data stores in partnership with the team.
• Define clear API contracts and data models with frontend engineers.
• Produce clear documentation: OpenAPI/Swagger specs, architecture diagrams, and in-code comments.
• Participate in design discussions, architectural reviews, and peer code reviews to keep quality high.
• Continuously build your skills and keep up with emerging AI tools, frameworks, and best practices.

Skills

Communication

English proficiency

Arabic language

Curious / proactive

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/IT/Engineering

Azure / Microsoft certifications a plus

Tools

Node.js

Python

Docker

Docker Compose

MongoDB

Redis

JWT authentication

RESTful APIs

AI/ML integration

Job description

Established in the region for 40 years, PwC has around 12,000 people in 12 countries across the region: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Our regional team operates across the Middle East bringing international experience delivered within the context of the region and its culture. We can bring the collective knowledge and experience of more than 370,000 people across the entire global PwC network in advisory, assurance and tax to help you find the value you are looking for.

About Us

With offices in 152 countries and nearly 328,000 professionals, we are one of the world’s leading professional services networks, helping organisations and individuals create lasting value through Assurance, Tax and Advisory services. For over 40 years, we have contributed to the Middle East’s transformation journey, partnering with governments and businesses to deliver sustainable solutions. Today, more than 12,000 of us across Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are shaping the region’s future.

Line of Service Overview

Internal Firm Services (IFS) is the trusted foundation of PwC, delivering innovative managed services and operational capabilities that enable our clients’ evolving needs. A career in IFS offers diverse opportunities across Human Capital, Finance, Technology, Clients & Markets, Marketing & Communications, Risk & Quality, Partner Development, Office Management, and Managed Services. We don’t just support the business—we shape it, driving strategies and initiatives that power growth and transformation across PwC Middle East.

Business Unit Overview

The AI Centre of Excellence (AICoE) is our central engine for AI strategy, product build, and scale. It governs standards and cost and risk controls, runs AI Factory squads to design and ship custom AI solutions and reusable frameworks (LLM and RAG stacks, integrations on Azure), provides technical consultation on architecture, solution design, and best practices, and drives workforce transformation through training and upskilling to accelerate adoption across our lines of service.

Operating within IFS, the CoE partners with Experience Design and adjacent technology teams, follows a codified operating model and RACI for approvals and observability, and supports proposals, demos, and delivery with a focus on distinctive outcomes and trusted leadership.

How You’ll Contribute

As an AI Backend Engineer, you’ll work as part of a team of problem solvers, helping to build and ship the backend services that power our AI products, from strategy to execution. As an AI Backend Engineer, your responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Design and implement RESTful APIs for authentication, data access, and system health checks.
• Develop modular services to handle model inference, prompt orchestration, and pipeline management.
• Orchestrate background and asynchronous tasks for long-running AI workloads.
• Integrate with leading LLM platforms (e.g., Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Hugging Face) and help optimize calls for performance and cost.
• Containerize services using Docker and DockerCompose, and collaborate on CI/CD pipelines.
• Help manage and scale data stores in partnership with the team.
• Define clear API contracts and data models together with frontend engineers.
• Produce clear documentation: OpenAPI/Swagger specs, architecture diagrams, and in-code comments.
• Participate in design discussions, architectural reviews, and peer code reviews to keep quality high.
• Continuously build your skills and keep up with emerging AI tools, frameworks, and best practices.

What You’ll Bring

Experience

• 1–3 years of backend engineering experience, including exposure to building AI-enabled solutions.
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs.
• Hands‑on experience with containerized services and CI/CD.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• Relevant Azure or Microsoft certifications are a plus.

Technical Skills & Specialized Knowledge

• Strong backend development skills in Node.js, Python, or equivalent.
• Hands‑on experience with Docker, Docker Compose, and container orchestration.
• Familiarity with databases such as MongoDB, Redis, or similar systems.
• Solid understanding of JWT/session-based authentication and security best practices.
• Proven ability to design and consume RESTful APIs.
• Experience integrating AI/ML services — especially large language models — into applications.

Attributes & Soft Skills

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate across multi-located and diverse teams.
• Ability to understand and translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Curious, proactive, and eager to learn.
• Excellent verbal and written communication in English; Arabic is preferred.

How You’ll Make a Difference

At PwC Middle East, we expect all our people to embody the skills and behaviours of The PwC Professional framework, helping us deliver on our strategy while growing and developing as leaders at every level.

Why You’ll Love Working at PwC

At PwC Middle East, you’ll find more than just a job - you’ll build a meaningful career, supported by rewards and benefits that help you thrive. We offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and programs that promote well‑being, balance, and personal growth. You’ll have access to continuous learning, digital upskilling, and a collaborative environment that values innovation, mentorship, and diversity. Are you ready to make a difference? Want to unlock new value by applying your unique perspective and talents? You can grow exponentially here. Discover more about Life at PwC Middle East.

Tagged as: IFS - Internal Firm Services - Other, Internal Firm Services, Senior Associate