Backend Software Engineer

Harnham; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Harnham is recruiting on behalf of a privately held health-tech SaaS platform. We seek a hands-on Lead Backend Engineer – AI Services to bridge the gap between Data Science and production software, a senior, technical leadership role within a 3-person platform team.

You will build, scale, and integrate AI/ML capabilities into production services, own backend architecture, guide the team, and work with executives to shape platform evolution across LLMs, RAG, and real-time predictions.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience building SaaS/backend platform architectures.

Responsibilities

• Bridge AI & Production: turn proof-of-concept models into scalable production services.
• Platform Evolution: extend backend to support model serving, LLMs, and real-time predictions.
• System Architecture: lead architectural design and deployment, define reusable patterns.
• Collaborate & Guide: report to VP of Engineering and guide the platform team.

Skills

Java backend architecture

Python/FastAPI

LangChain

Vector Databases/RAG

MLflow

LLM APIs

Prompt engineering

AWS/Azure/GCP

Linux deployment

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Linux

Job description

We are recruiting on behalf of a privately held, high-impact SaaS platform transforming how health and human services organizations utilize data to improve outcomes and program integrity. Their configurable analytics and decision-support solutions empower state and federal leaders to make faster, smarter, and more informed decisions that directly improve the lives of the individuals they serve.

About the Role

They are seeking a hands‑on Lead Backend Engineer – AI Services to bridge the gap between Data Science and production software. This is not a research position, pure architect role, or management track—it is a senior, technical leadership position within an established 3‑person platform team where you will build, scale, and integrate AI/ML capabilities directly into production software.

Responsibilities

• Bridge AI & Production: Work directly with the Data Science team and Chief Innovation Officer to take proof‑of‑concept models and turn them into scalable, reliable production services.
• Platform Evolution: Build and extend backend infrastructure to support model serving, LLM integrations, RAG architecture, agentic workflows, and real‑time predictions.
• System Architecture: Lead complex backend initiatives from architectural design through deployment, establishing reusable patterns and driving build vs. buy decisions.
• Collaborate & Guide: Report directly to the VP of Engineering, communicating technical tradeoffs and system designs to executive leadership while providing technical direction to the platform team.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in building, modernizing, and maintaining complex SaaS/backend platform architectures.

Required Skills

• Strong mastery of server‑side Java and foundational software engineering practices (testing, CI/CD, monitoring, SQL).
• Proven experience operationalizing AI/ML into customer‑facing, commercial products.
• Practical working knowledge of Python/FastAPI, LangChain (or similar orchestration frameworks), Vector Databases/RAG, MLflow, LLM APIs, and prompt engineering.
• Experience deploying high‑availability systems on Linux environments across AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in analytics, Business Intelligence (BI), or decision‑support platforms.
• Background or domain knowledge in healthcare or human services data systems.