Senior Backend Engineer

AI Talent Now; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

AI Talent Now is seeking an experienced Backend Engineer in San Francisco to own end-to-end backend features, APIs, and production-ready systems. You will work with product and engineering teams to shape the roadmap and ship features from prototype to production.

Ideal candidates have 4+ years of backend experience, strong Python or TypeScript, and hands-on Kubernetes/Terraform expertise. Join a VC-backed, fast-paced startup environment focusing on scalable systems and AI/LLM-native

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python or TypeScript.
• 3 - 8 years of backend software engineering experience.
• Experience in distributed systems and launching full products/APIs in production.
• Top CS school globally or prestigious company background.

Responsibilities

• Build out backend features and scale API capabilities.
• Own backend services and drive scalable, production-ready solutions.
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams on the roadmap for core features.
• Lead backend projects from prototype to production for end users.

Skills

Python

Typescript

Distributed systems

API development

End-to-end ownership

Education

Top 50 CS school globally

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform

Postgres

Temporal

Job description

San Francisco, United States | Posted on 09/03/2026

AI Talent Now, LLC is a powerhouse in direct-hire talent acquisition, connecting exceptional talent with industry-leading organizations across IT, Engineering, Financial Services & Fintech, and Manufacturing & Robotics. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, we proudly serve clients and candidates nationwide.

Job Description

AI Talent Now Job # ZR 102

We are seeking an experienced Backend Engineer with 4+ YOE, ideally from a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment. You should be comfortable owning the end-to-end product lifecycle, from ideation to deployment, and have a track record of shipping new product features from scratch. Bonus points if you have experience with AI/LLM-native applications and are excited about the prospect of interacting with customers to translate feedback into features.

What you'll do:

Build out new features and scale our backend capabilities with a primary focus on our core APIs.

Take ownership of backend services and drive the development of scalable, production-ready solutions.

Work closely with the product and engineering teams to jointly develop and iterate on the product roadmap for core features.

Design, build, and maintain our backend stack, including Python, Kubernetes, Terraform, Postgres, and Temporal.

Lead backend projects from prototype to production, serving end users in a short amount of time.

Translate user feedback into features and proactively contribute to user discovery to improve our platform.

Requirements

Must-have

Mix oflarger tech companiesAND recentearly/late-stage startupexperience (VC-backed).

Proficiency inPythonorTypescript.

Baseline

Seniority:

3 - 8 years of experience in professional backend software engineering.

Distributed systemsexperience and a track record ofbuilding and launching full products/APIs0 1 in production.

Education:

Top 50 CS school globally (or prestigious company background to compensate).

Backend experience with Kubernetes or other container orchestration, and Terraform or other IaC.

Nice-to-have

Developer tooling or B2B infrastructure experience (document security, config-based products)

Experience building or shipping AI/LLM-native applications