Python Backend Engineer (Remote, Full - Time) [AS347]

Remote; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Smart Working is a fully remote, growth‑minded company that connects skilled professionals with global teams for long‑term roles. This Backend Engineer (Python) role involves building an AI‑native cybersecurity platform, delivering secure Python services, and owning end‑to‑end projects with direct customer engagement.

You will join a 14+ engineer team reporting to the VP of Engineering, contributing to security detection, investigation, and AI‑assisted resolution across multiple projects.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience.
• 5+ years of production Python development.
• Hands-on experience with AI agents and frontier AI models.
• Ability to learn unfamiliar tech areas using LLMs.
• Experience in distributed service design and API/data modelling.
• Strong testing, correctness and observability standards.
• Ability to own features end to end and communicate with customers.
• Willingness to work remotely during UK working hours.

Responsibilities

• Build the Agent Control Plane to run and manage AI agent fleets.
• Develop Python services with FastAPI/Flask for security tasks.
• Create the AI agent layer with tool calls and MCP integrations.
• Model and query large security datasets with ClickHouse.
• Take end-to-end ownership from problem to delivery.
• Engage with customers to understand requirements and resolve issues.
• Prioritize effectively and maintain team collaboration.
• Use AI agents and frontier models to learn new tech and codebases.
• Manage two major projects plus smaller AI-driven tasks.

Skills

Python

AI agents

LLMs

API design

Distributed systems

Testing & observability

Ownership

Customer focus

Autonomy

UK hours

End-to-end

Tools

FastAPI

Flask

ClickHouse

MCP

RAG

Agent harnesses

LLM tools

C++

TypeScript

Job description

About Smart Working

At Smart Working, we believe your job should not only look right on paper but also feel right every day. This isn’t just another remote opportunity - it’s about finding where you truly belong, no matter where you are. From day one, you’re welcomed into a genuine community that values your growth and well‑being.

Our mission is simple: to break down geographic barriers and connect skilled professionals with outstanding global teams and products for full-time, long‑term roles. We help you discover meaningful work with teams that invest in your success, where you’re empowered to grow personally and professionally.

Join one of the highest‑rated workplaces on Glassdoor and experience what it means to thrive in a truly remote‑first world.

About the Role

As a Backend Engineer (Python), you will contribute to building an AI-native cybersecurity platform, helping customers operate and manage their own fleets of AI agents. You will develop backend systems supporting security detection, investigation and AI‑assisted resolution.

You will join a team of 14+ engineers across Backend, DevOps, Endpoint, Frontend and Design, reporting to the VP of Engineering and AI. The team follows a flat structure and a single‑owner model, with one engineer per discipline per project.

This role is suited to an autonomous, customer‑focused engineer who takes end‑to‑end ownership, collaborates effectively and uses AI to deliver high‑impact solutions.

Responsibilities

• Build the Agent Control Plane, enabling customers to run and manage their own fleet of AI agents.
• Design, develop and deliver Python services using FastAPI and Flask for security detection, investigation and AI‑assisted resolution.
• Build the AI agent layer, including tool calling, Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations and human approval mechanisms before actions are performed on live systems.
• Model and query large security datasets using ClickHouse, ensuring strict tenant isolation.
• Take end‑to‑end ownership of assigned projects, from understanding customer problems through to delivering solutions.
• Engage directly with customers to understand their requirements and ensure their problems are resolved.
• Independently manage priorities and deliver high‑impact work while maintaining continuous communication and collaboration with the team.
• Use AI agents and frontier models to learn unfamiliar technologies, navigate unfamiliar codebases and manage multiple projects.
• Manage two major projects alongside smaller AI‑driven tasks.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of overall software engineering experience.
• Minimum 5 years of hands‑on production Python development experience.
• Daily, hands‑on experience using AI agents and frontier AI models to build software.
• Demonstrated ability to use LLMs independently to learn unfamiliar technical areas, work across unfamiliar codebases and deliver software solutions.
• Experience in system design for distributed services.
• Strong understanding of API design and data modelling.
• High standards for software testing, correctness and observability.
• Ability to take complete ownership of features and projects, from understanding customer requirements to resolving customer problems.
• Strong customer focus, with a willingness to communicate directly with customers rather than simply completing assigned tickets.
• Ability to identify urgent priorities, respond quickly and focus on delivering work with the greatest impact.
• Ability to work autonomously, set priorities and make decisions without constant supervision while maintaining effective communication and collaboration.
• A growth mindset, with openness to constructive criticism, willingness to discard or rework code and projects when necessary, and commitment to improving the wider team.
• A trustworthy and accountable approach, demonstrating honesty, attention to detail, early communication of problems and consistent delivery.
• Ability to work effectively with colleagues rather than in isolation.
• Ability to clearly explain technical decisions, implementation approaches and solutions.
• Willingness to own projects end to end.
• Availability to work remotely during UK working hours.
• Ability to join as soon as possible.

Nice to Have

• Experience with FastAPI or Flask.
• Experience with ClickHouse or other columnar analytics databases.
• Production experience with agent harnesses, LLM tool use, Model Context Protocol (MCP) or Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Experience developing or maintaining multi‑tenant SaaS platforms.
• Experience in cybersecurity, detection engineering or large‑scale event processing.
• Some experience with C++ or TypeScript.