Founding Backend Software Engineer

True; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

We are seeking a founding backend engineer for an early-stage AI video team, responsible for designing the backend and agentic infrastructure that powers AI-driven video creation. You will lead technical direction and establish engineering standards for a small, high-caliber team.

Key work includes building scalable backend systems, agentic workflows, and video pipelines, with real-time data processing and end-to-end observability.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of backend software engineering experience.
• Experience building scalable backend and distributed systems.
• At least 12 months designing and building agentic systems or generative AI products.
• Proficient in TypeScript and AWS (S3, Lambda, RDS, SQS, ECS).
• Experience leading a team and setting code standards.
• Bachelor's degree in CS or related field and strong English communication.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable backend systems for AI video products.
• Develop infrastructure for agentic workflows, video generation pipelines, reinforcement learning loops, and real-time data processing.
• Own distributed systems architecture and improve reliability with automated testing, benchmarking, observability.
• Partner with researchers, engineers, and designers to build product features and APIs.
• Set technical direction and engineering standards through implementation and documentation.

Skills

Backend experience

Distributed systems

Async workflows

Agentic systems

TypeScript

AWS

Technical lead

English communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

TypeScript

AWS

S3

Lambda

RDS

SQS

ECS

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

Join an early-stage AI video team as its founding backend engineer. You will lead the design of the backend and agentic infrastructure that powers AI-driven video creation, while helping establish engineering standards for a small, high-caliber team.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Design and build scalable backend systems for AI video products.
• Develop infrastructure for agentic workflows, video generation pipelines, reinforcement learning loops, and real-time data processing.
• Own distributed systems architecture and improve reliability through automated testing, performance benchmarking, and end-to-end observability.
• Partner with researchers, engineers, and designers to build product features and APIs.
• Set technical direction and engineering standards through strong implementation, clear documentation, and effective communication.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Five to ten years of backend software engineering experience, including work at early-stage or high-growth startups.
• Industry experience building scalable backend and distributed systems, large-scale data processing, information retrieval, and asynchronous workflows.
• At least 12 months of industry experience designing and building agentic systems, LLMs, or generative AI products.
• Professional experience with TypeScript and AWS, including relevant services such as S3, Lambda, RDS, SQS, or ECS.
• Experience as a technical lead, setting technical direction and code standards for a team.
• A formal degree, strong computer science fundamentals, and fluent English communication skills.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary: $225,000 to $275,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

LOCATION

On-site, five days per week in San Francisco, California.