Founding Software Engineer, Backend
True Talent Solutions Partners
About the role
About the Role
Join a small engineering team building an AI-powered video platform. As a founding backend engineer and technical lead, you will shape the systems and engineering practices that support its core creative technology.
What You'll Do
Design and build scalable backend systems for video generation pipelines, agentic workflows, reinforcement learning loops, and real-time data processing.
Own distributed systems architecture and improve reliability through automated testing, performance benchmarking, and end-to-end observability.
Partner with researchers, engineers, and designers to develop product features and APIs.
Set technical direction, establish code standards, write high-quality code, and raise engineering practices across the team.
Document systems, define agent skills, and communicate technical decisions clearly.
What We're Looking For
Five to ten years of backend software engineering experience, including experience at early-stage or high-growth startups.
Experience building scalable backend systems, including distributed systems, large-scale data processing, information retrieval, and asynchronous workflows.
Industry experience with TypeScript and AWS, including relevant cloud infrastructure and services.
At least 12 months of industry experience designing and building agentic systems, LLMs, or generative AI.
A formal degree, strong computer science fundamentals, fluency in English, and experience acting as a technical lead.
Compensation & Benefits
Annual salary range: $225,000 to $275,000 USD. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location
On-site in San Francisco, California, five days per week.
Responsibilities
- Build scalable backend systems for video generation, agentic workflows, reinforcement learning, and real-time data processing.
- Own distributed systems architecture and improve reliability through testing, performance benchmarking, and observability.
- Partner with researchers, engineers, and designers to develop product features and APIs.
- Set technical direction, establish code standards, and raise engineering practices across the team.
- Document systems, define agent skills, and communicate technical decisions.
Qualifications
- Five to ten years of backend software engineering experience, including experience at early-stage or high-growth startups.
- Experience building scalable backend systems, distributed systems, large-scale data processing, information retrieval, and asynchronous workflows.
- Industry experience with TypeScript and AWS.
- At least 12 months of industry experience designing and building agentic systems, LLMs, or generative AI.
- Formal degree, strong computer science fundamentals, fluency in English, and experience acting as a technical lead.