Applied AI Backend Tech Lead — Architect & Scale Systems

mercor

San Francisco (CA)

On-site

USD 170,000 - 250,000

Full time

7 days ago

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Job summary

Mercor in San Francisco is seeking a Tech Lead for Applied AI Backend Systems to own architecture of backend services, data models, and pipelines, shipping designs to production and mentoring engineers. You’ll design data pipelines, build scalable APIs (REST/GRPC/GraphQL), manage infrastructure as code with Terraform, and drive cross-functional alignment with product, operations, and research teams.

Deep knowledge of distributed systems, databases, and reliability is required; leadership and the

Qualifications

8+ years of backend engineering experience in production systems.
Experience mentoring senior engineers.
Strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, concurrency and clear code.
Hands-on API design and versioning (REST, gRPC, GraphQL).
Deep distributed systems expertise: queues, caching, idempotency, rate limiting.

Responsibilities

Own the architecture of the Applied AI backend domain, including core services, data models, and the pipeline execution layer.
Set the technical direction and contribute hands-on to build the hardest parts.
Translate undefined problems into concrete designs, write the design, ship the code, and keep it healthy in production.
Drive cross-functional alignment with product, operations, and research partners to turn ambiguous requirements into shippable systems.
Participate in on-call for owned services and improve the system reliability.