Open-Source AI Platform Engineer

Austinworks; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Austinworks is seeking a senior software engineer to advance the open-source AI gateway that enables developers to route, govern, observe, and scale AI traffic across providers. You will work closely with founders and the community to build clean abstractions and durable solutions.

The role emphasizes production-quality systems, Python expertise, and a curiosity about the evolving AI stack, with autonomy to identify and solve meaningful problems end to end.

Qualifications

• Solid software engineering fundamentals with experience delivering production systems.
• Strong Python skills and ability to contribute quickly to a Python-heavy codebase (FastAPI, APIs/SDKs).
• Curiosity about the AI application stack including LLM APIs, agentic systems, MCP, and tool use.
• Evidence of initiative beyond a narrow job description (startup or open-source work, side projects, leadership).
• Clear, direct communication and comfort explaining tradeoffs to developers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own parts of the open-source product surface from signal to design, implementation, release, and iteration.
• Build an interoperability layer to support multiple LLM providers via a unified API.
• Improve developer experience across Python SDKs, APIs, and documentation; contribute to community needs.

Skills

Strong software engineering

Python

Product instincts

Initiative

Clear communication

Tools

FastAPI

APIs/SDKs

PostgreSQL

Redis

Job description

Austinworks is seeking a senior software engineer to advance the open-source AI gateway that enables developers to route, govern, observe, and scale AI traffic across providers. You will work closely with founders and the community to build clean abstractions and durable solutions.

The role emphasizes production-quality systems, Python expertise, and a curiosity about the evolving AI stack, with autonomy to identify and solve meaningful problems end to end.