Staff Backend Engineer: AI‑Powered, Scalable Platforms

Bayer CropScience Limited; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 117,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Vision

Dental

Retirement

PTO

Job summary

Bayer Crop Science Limited in the United States (Illinois, Chicago) is seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to shape scalable architectures for AI-enabled farming platforms. You’ll drive strategy, guide teams from design to delivery, and raise engineering standards for reliability and observability.

The role emphasizes leadership of senior engineers and alignment with farmer outcomes. Requirements include 8+ years in software development, strong backend skills (Java/Python), Docker and AWS

Qualifications

• BS or equivalent in Computer Science or related technical field or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 8+ years of hands-on experience in software development
• Experience leading across teams the development of scalable cloud-based microservices and data pipelines
• Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitLab Pipelines, GitHub Actions)
• Experience with container technologies (e.g., Docker)
• Strong knowledge of AWS and other public cloud platforms
• Strong backend language knowledge (e.g., Java, Python)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical strategy for the organization's highest-priority initiatives, from architecture through delivery.
• Bring clarity to ambiguous, high-complexity problems — translating strategic goals into actionable technical direction that teams can execute with confidence.
• Set and evolve the engineering standards for reliability, observability, and code quality that define how Digital Farming Solutions builds software at scale.
• Actively develop senior engineers into Staff-level leaders, sponsoring their growth into initiatives with organization-wide scope and impact.
• Champion a culture where engineering decisions are grounded in farmer outcomes — connecting technical tradeoffs directly to the real-world impact on the people we serve.
• Shape the technical approach for the full spectrum of agricultural data — from on-farm precision sensors to satellite and geospatial imagery — ensuring platforms handle it with accuracy, scale, and performance.
• Drive architectural decisions for data-intensive, algorithmically complex precision agriculture systems, partnering with data science and product to turn research into production-grade capabilities.

Skills

Backend development

Cloud platforms

Microservices

CI/CD tooling

Docker

Communication skills

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

GitLab

GitHub Actions

Job description

Bayer Crop Science Limited in the United States (Illinois, Chicago) is seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to shape scalable architectures for AI-enabled farming platforms. You’ll drive strategy, guide teams from design to delivery, and raise engineering standards for reliability and observability.

The role emphasizes leadership of senior engineers and alignment with farmer outcomes. Requirements include 8+ years in software development, strong backend skills (Java/Python), Docker and AWS