Member of Technical Staff - Python SDK

Modal; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Modal is seeking engineers to build a new infrastructure layer for AI workloads. The role focuses on developing high-quality Python libraries, enhancing developer productivity, and engaging directly with users to solve their problems.

In-person collaboration is expected in NYC or Stockholm, with a strong emphasis on open‑source experience and modern tooling. Ideal candidates have 5+ years building Python libraries, comfort with async programming, and a keen product sense for ergonomics.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing high-quality Python libraries with broad user‑bases.
• Knowledge of advanced Python features, especially async programming.
• A strong product sense that manifests as a focus on developer ergonomics and productivity.
• A high level of customer empathy, good communication skills, and an openness to working directly with our users to help solve their problems.
• Ability to participate in on‑call rotation and respond to production incidents.
• Ability to work in-person in our NYC or Stockholm office.

Skills

Python

Async programming

Developer ergonomics

Customer empathy

On-call rotation

Tools

Typescript

Go

Rust

Job description

About Us:

AI needs a new infrastructure layer. We're building it at Modal.

Every era of computing brought new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't support: mainframes, databases, and the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice, and the window to build the layer underneath it is open right now.

Our customers include category-defining companies like Lovable, Ramp, Cognition, DoorDash, and Suno. They rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub‑second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low‑latency inference, fine‑tune models, and access production‑ready sandboxes at scale.

We recently raised a $355M Series C at a $4.65B valuation, led by General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures. We've crossed $300M+ ARR and grown fivefold since September.

Our team includes creators of popular open‑source projects (e.g., Seaborn, Luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience.

The Role:

We’re looking for strong engineers with experience building developer tools that users love to work with. Our ideal candidate is someone with a demonstrated drive to build beautiful interfaces that enhance developer productivity.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience developing high-quality Python libraries with broad user‑bases, ideally including some experience maintaining open-source software.
• Knowledge of advanced Python features, especially async programming.
• A strong product sense that manifests as a focus on developer ergonomics and productivity.
• A high level of customer empathy, good communication skills, and an openness to working directly with our users to help solve their problems.
• Ability to participate in on‑call rotation and respond to production incidents.
• Ability to work in-person in our NYC or Stockholm office.
• Any of the following would be a plus:
  • Familiarity with modern data / ML / AI tools and workflows
  • Experience with Typescript, Go, or Rust