Backend Engineer, AI

A1; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 255,000 - 405,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company based in California is seeking candidates to build backend systems for AI-powered features. The role involves optimizing service performance and ensuring reliable production operations. Ideal candidates will have experience with high-throughput services, be familiar with AI inference patterns, and have proficiency in Python and NodeJs among other tools. This position offers a compensation range from $255K to $405K, emphasizing collaboration and direct contributions to the company's mission.

Qualifications

• Experience running high-throughput, low-latency services.
• Familiarity with AI inference patterns (LLMs, embeddings, multimodal).
• Bias toward shipping and learning from production behavior.

Responsibilities

• Build and operate backend systems that serve AI-powered features in production.
• Design inference pipelines, orchestration layers, and service boundaries around models.
• Own production concerns: monitoring, logging, alerting, and incident response.
• Optimize latency and throughput across inference, caching, batching, and streaming.

Skills

High-throughput service experience

AI inference pattern familiarity

Production behavior learning

Python

NodeJs

Pytorch

OpenAI / Anthropic / open-source LLMs

SQL

noSQL

Docker

Job description

A1 is building a proactive AI system that carries work forward across conversations, tools, and time.

You will build the systems that power every AI interaction users experience. Your work will sit at the intersection of models, orchestration, APIs, and product behavior - where correctness, latency, and reliability actually matter.

Focus

• Build and operate backend systems that serve AI-powered features in production.
• Design inference pipelines, orchestration layers, and service boundaries around models.
• Own production concerns: monitoring, logging, alerting, and incident response.
• Optimize latency and throughput across inference, caching, batching, and streaming.

Ideal Experiences

• Experience running high-throughput, low-latency services.
• Familiarity with AI inference patterns (LLMs, embeddings, multimodal).
• Bias toward shipping and learning from production behavior.
• Python
• NodeJs
• Pytorch
• OpenAI / Anthropic / open-source LLMs
• SQL & noSQL
• Docker

Compensation Range

$255K – $405K

How We Work

Our organization is very flat and our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering and product excellence. All members are expected to be hands‑on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission.

If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach to schedule 3, but no more than 4 interviews.

Applications are evaluated by our technical team members. Interviews will be conducted via virtual meetings and/or onsite.

We value transparency and efficiency, so expect a prompt decision. If you've demonstrated the exceptional skills and mindset we're looking for, we'll extend an offer to join us. This isn't just a job offer; it's an invitation to be part of a team that's bringing AI to have practical benefits to billions globally.