Founding Backend Engineer

Tako; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Tako is seeking a seasoned backend engineer to own data, search, AI, and core backend infrastructure projects as we rapidly evolve Tako’s capabilities. We are a fast-moving, AI-focused startup in San Francisco seeking builders with craft and impact.

You will own key backend and data infrastructure projects, build AI and search tooling with low latency, and collaborate with the team to deliver high-quality features that delight customers.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering experience at tech/product-driven companies.
• Desire to build across core product, search, and data infra.
• Mastery of Python; familiarity with Django framework.
• Experience with modern AI development stack.

Responsibilities

• Own backend and data infrastructure projects for indexing and serving knowledge.
• Build AI and search infrastructure with high accuracy, low latency.
• Collaborate with frontend and other engineers to ship quality features.
• Interact with customers on products you build and own.
• Contribute to the company's technical, product, and business strategy.

Skills

Python

Django

Backend engineering

AI stack

Job description

We’re looking for a seasoned backend engineer to own key data, search, AI, and core backend infrastructure projects as we rapidly evolve Tako’s capabilities. In making the world’s knowledge available, composable, and shareable to AI, we are tackling several difficult technical and product problems with a small team. We are looking for builders that are passionate about AI, pace setters that ship with high velocity, and owners who demonstrate unusually high (some might say obsessive) levels of craft + impact. We’re not yet ready to mentor entry-level engineers, so we’re looking for mid-career and more senior engineers. We’re happy to be proven wrong about seniority should you be a badass.

What You Will Do:

• Own key backend + data infrastructure projects for indexing and serving the world’s knowledge
• Build AI + search infrastructure that delivers high accuracy, flexibility, and low latency
• Collaborate with frontend engineers and the rest of the engineering team to build high quality features that delight customers
• Interact with customers directly on the products you build + own
• Contribute directly to the company’s technical, product, and business strategy

What You Will Bring to the Team:

• At least 3 years of relevant engineering experience at tech and product-driven companies
• A desire to build across multiple domains (core-product, search, data-infra)
• A mastery of python (and at least a familiarity with frameworks like django)
• Experience with the modern AI development stack

What Gives You an Edge:

• Experience building production search or AI systems that serve millions of users
• Early-stage startup experience or founding experience
• Side projects, papers, etc. that demonstrate a genuine interest and passion for AI + search
• Trying our product for 10+ minutes and providing substantive feedback
• A sense of humor

Tako is an equal opportunity employer and employment decisions are made purely on a basis of job-related criteria without regards to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. For US Based Candidates we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.