Backend Engineer
Backend engineers at AI companies build the server-side systems, APIs, and data pipelines that power AI products and infrastructure. Their day-to-day involves designing distributed services, optimizing data processing at scale, and operating mission-critical systems that handle everything from serving AI model inferences to processing observability data across GPU-dense infrastructure. What distinguishes backend roles in AI is their focus on the unique challenges of AI workloads—high-throughput serving paths, streaming data pipelines for telemetry, and infrastructure optimized for compute-intensive tasks—rather than traditional web application concerns. These engineers typically work within infrastructure, platform, or core services teams that act as force multipliers, building the foundational systems that enable product teams and researchers to move faster.
Skills
What companies are looking for in this role.
Designing and implementing scalable distributed backend systems and services
Developing and maintaining production systems with high reliability requirements
Building and operating large-scale, high-throughput data processing systems
Architecting end-to-end system solutions for complex business domains
Designing relational database schemas and optimizing query performance
Troubleshooting and resolving distributed systems problems under pressure
Building APIs and developer-facing tools that enable product capabilities
Implementing automated workflows and integration platforms across systems
Designing systems for multi-tenancy, access control, and enterprise security
Leveraging AI and code generation tools to enhance development productivity
Designing systems for real-time observability, monitoring, and telemetry
Building AI-enabled automation and intelligent workflow systems
Architecting edge computing systems and distributed agent software
Collaborating across functional teams including product, finance, and business
Owning projects end-to-end from ambiguous requirements through production delivery
Mentoring and influencing peer engineers through design reviews and technical guidance
Leading technical vision and multi-year roadmap development
Communicating technical decisions and tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders
Participating in on-call rotations and managing incident response
Translating business and regulatory requirements into technical solutions
Technology
The tools and technologies that define this role.
Open Jobs
506 open Backend Engineer jobs across 72 companies.
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