Senior Engineer - Backend & Platform

Senior Engineer – Backend & PlatformLocation - Remote (US & Canada) — Periodic Travel to San Francisco, CA or Toronto, Canada for Team CollaborationCompensation - $190,000 – $300,000 Base + Meaningful Founding-Level EquityVisa - Strong Preference for Candidates with Existing US or Canadian Work AuthorizationVisa Sponsorship May Be Considered for Exceptional CandidatesCompany Stage - Seed Stage (~$5M Raised)Industry - AI Infrastructure, Enterprise AI, LLM Agents, Platform Engineering, Knowledge SystemsThe company is building an AI-native infrastructure platform that enables LLM agents to reason over large-scale organizational knowledge, making enterprise information more accessible, actionable, and intelligent.Already deployed with enterprise customers ranging from hundreds to thousands of employees, the platform powers complex AI workflows that combine distributed systems, large language models, retrieval systems, and production-grade backend infrastructure to solve real-world enterprise problems.Backed by leading venture investors and built by an experienced founding team, the company is assembling a small, high-talent-density engineering organization where every engineer owns foundational architecture and directly influences product direction.As one of the earliest Backend & Platform Engineers, you'll architect and build the core infrastructure powering AI agents, distributed backend services, and enterprise-scale knowledge systems while working directly with the founders on some of the company's most important technical challenges.This is a rare opportunity to join an early-stage AI infrastructure company where you'll own high-impact technical decisions, shape engineering culture, and build foundational systems supporting the next generation of enterprise AI.What You'll DoArchitect and build the company's core backend and platform infrastructureDesign scalable distributed systems supporting enterprise AI workloadsBuild reliable APIs, backend services, and platform capabilities from the ground upDesign and implement LLM agents capable of reasoning over complex organizational dataBuild production-grade retrieval, memory, and knowledge infrastructure for AI systemsOwn architecture decisions across backend services, data infrastructure, and platform engineeringDesign scalable SQL data models and backend storage systemsImprove system reliability, scalability, observability, and operational excellencePartner closely with founders on technical strategy and long-term platform architectureOwn high-impact engineering initiatives from design through production deploymentHelp establish engineering standards, architecture principles, and platform best practicesOperate with high autonomy while solving complex enterprise-scale technical challengesIdeal Candidate BackgroundExperience Requirements5+ years of experience in backend or platform engineeringExperience owning production backend systems operating at meaningful scaleExperience leading technical architecture for high-impact engineering projectsExperience working at high technical-bar engineering organizations or early-stage startupsExperience building distributed systems used by real customersExperience operating with high ownership and minimal oversightFounding Engineer or early startup experience strongly preferredExperience designing production platform architecture preferredDemonstrated ability to lead ambiguous technical initiatives end-to-endTechnical RequirementsDeep Python engineering expertiseStrong distributed systems and backend architecture experienceExperience designing production APIs and backend platform servicesStrong SQL and relational database experienceExperience building scalable platform infrastructureHands-on experience with LLMs, RAG systems, AI agents, or agentic workflowsStrong system design fundamentalsExperience with observability, debugging, and production operationsFamiliarity with AI-native infrastructure and enterprise knowledge systemsStrong engineering judgment and architectural decision-makingExperience leveraging AI coding tools effectively while maintaining engineering qualityEducationBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferredStrong academic background from a top engineering program preferredSoft SkillsHigh ownership mentalityExcellent communication and technical leadership skillsComfortable operating in ambiguityStrong systems thinking and problem-solving abilitiesIndependent execution with minimal managementBias toward action and shippingStrong engineering craftsmanshipStartup mentalityAbility to mentor and elevate engineering standardsPreferred BackgroundsAI infrastructure startupsPlatform engineering organizationsBackend infrastructure teamsEnterprise AI startupsLLM platform companiesDistributed systems organizationsDeveloper infrastructure companiesEarly-stage venture-backed startupsFounding engineering teamsEngineers building AI-native backend platformsCompensation & BenefitsBase Salary: $190,000 – $300,000Meaningful Founding-Level EquitySignificant ownership over backend architectureDirect collaboration with foundersOpportunity to shape foundational AI infrastructureRemote-first work environmentPeriodic onsite collaboration with engineering teamHealth InsuranceFlexible PTOTransportation and wellness benefitsRapid career growth opportunitiesWhy JoinThis is an opportunity to build the foundational infrastructure powering the next generation of enterprise AI systems.You'll architect distributed backend platforms, build intelligent LLM agents, and solve challenging large-scale systems problems while working directly alongside an experienced founding team.As one of the earliest platform engineers, you'll have outsized ownership over architecture, engineering culture, and product direction while building AI-native infrastructure deployed in real enterprise environments.