Backend Product Engineer

Tolan; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A cutting-edge AI companionship company in San Francisco is seeking an experienced Backend Engineer to build and maintain systems essential to their product. The role involves close collaboration with frontend teams and a strong focus on user experience using TypeScript and Python. Ideal candidates should have a minimum of four years of backend engineering experience and an enthusiasm for rapid prototyping. Join a dynamic team in a hybrid workspace where innovation thrives.

Qualifications

• Minimum 4 years of backend engineering experience.
• Deep expertise in TypeScript or Python.
• Experience with low latency systems important for user dependency.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain systems for Tolan, including backend distributed systems.
• Work closely with frontend engineering and design.
• Evaluate shipped products by metrics and user feedback.

Skills

Backend engineering experience

TypeScript expertise

Python expertise

Systems thinking

Low latency systems

Working in small teams

AI integration

Tools

Node.js

PostgreSQL

Redis

Job description

Tolan is an Embodied Companion — a cute AI alien you talk with naturally, like a friend. Tolans have their own personality and preferences, and over time form memories about you, your life, and your shared friendship.

We're an experienced team that previously founded Even, acquired for $300M in 2022. Tolan is backed by the designers and founders behind Instagram, Retro, Behance, Vimeo, and Notion.

Our team works hard, with an emphasis on autonomy and ownership. We’re building together in-person in downtown SF.

The role

Backend engineers build and maintain the systems that make Tolan possible: a mix of backend distributed systems and LLM engineering. Backend engineers at Portola typically work closely with frontend product engineering and design to own a specific user-facing part of the product. As you ship to production, you’ll talk with users and review metrics to evaluate the success of what you have shipped and how you’ll evolve it. Our stack is built primarily with Node.js (TypeScript), Python, PostgreSQL, and Redis.

You might be a fit if you:

• Have at least 4 years of backend engineering experience
• Use your deep TypeScript or Python expertise to rapidly prototype and iterate on user-facing features
• Apply your systems thinking to ensure great user experience
• Have built low latency systems that real users depend on at scale
• Do your best work on a small team
• Have deeply integrated AI into how you work
• Love to ship quickly and make contact with reality as often as possible