Staff Software Engineer - Backend (AI Product)

? Backend Engineer – High-Growth AI SaaS Startup

? SoMa, San Francisco, CA | ? Full-Time | Onsite

? Salary: $200K–$325K + Meaningful Equity (1%+)

Join an early-stage AI SaaS start-up creating an AI application builder that empowers business users to build custom applications where humans and AI collaborate seamlessly across enterprise systems. The company addresses complex enterprise challenges, including multi-day workflows, cross-system integrations (ERP/CRM/financial platforms), secure VPC hosting, and enterprise-grade observability, logging, identity, and compliance controls.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Backend Engineer to lead the development of backend systems and architecture. This is a rare opportunity to take ownership of core systems in an early-stage company, shaping architecture, scalability, and reliability from the ground up.

You’ll tackle challenging problems like orchestrating multi-system workflows, processing large-scale data asynchronously, and safely executing AI-generated code — all while collaborating closely with the applied AI team.

What You’ll Do

• Design and build the core workflow engine — the orchestration layer connecting agents, data sources, and frontend views.
• Develop and scale the TypeScript-based backend, handling asynchronous execution, retries, and deterministic routines.
• Build and maintain integration layers for REST APIs, SQL sources, and third-party systems.
• Collaborate with the applied AI engineering team to integrate automation and intelligence across systems.
• Define and enforce best practices for backend architecture, reliability, and developer experience as the company scales.

Who You Are (Must-Haves)

• 4–15 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong experience with TypeScript, Node.js, and modern backend architectures.
• Experience designing complex data models and managing asynchronous tasks/workflows.
• Prior experience working in early-stage startups or high-growth environments.
• Experience integrating multiple systems, including REST APIs and SQL sources.
• Excited by building scalable systems and comfortable in a startup environment.
• Excellent problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience building or integrating AI / LLM-powered applications.
• Familiarity with Temporal or similar orchestration/workflow systems.
• Exposure to other modern backend frameworks or cloud technologies (AWS, GCP, Kubernetes).

Why Join?

• Competitive salary: $200K–$325K + meaningful equity (1%+) in an early-stage company.
• Work alongside experienced founders who have successfully scaled AI and enterprise SaaS products.
• Shape the architecture and direction of a high-impact backend system used across complex workflows.
• Be part of a small, highly motivated team at the forefront of AI and enterprise applications.