Backend Engineer (US)

We’re looking for a Backend Engineer to join an engineering team building AI-driven products at global scale.

You’ll work closely with engineers, product managers, designers, and AI specialists to build scalable backend systems and deliver high-impact product features.

You’ll help build systems that support students throughout their writing journey — from drafting and citations to AI transparency, authorship, and plagiarism detection.

This role combines backend engineering, distributed systems, and applied AI. You’ll work hands-on with AI-powered features while building the reliable infrastructure required to support them at scale.

What You’ll Do

• Build and ship end-to-end features across high-scale backend services.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable APIs and distributed services.
• Build and integrate AI-powered capabilities into product workflows.
• Work with LLM-based systems, AI APIs, and intelligent backend services.
• Design and operate WebSocket-based real-time systems at scale.
• Improve system performance, reliability, scalability, and architecture.
• Diagnose and resolve complex production issues.
• Collaborate with product, design, and AI teams to deliver high-impact solutions.
• Contribute to technical architecture, engineering standards, and system design decisions.
• Mentor engineers and contribute to the growth of the engineering team.

What You’ll Work On

• AI-powered writing and productivity products.
• AI transparency and authorship systems.
• Citation and attribution workflows.
• Plagiarism and AI-generated content detection.
• Integrations with educational platforms and third-party tools.
• High-scale backend infrastructure supporting global users.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on experience with Java and Spring Boot.
• Experience designing and scaling production systems.
• Strong knowledge of REST APIs, GraphQL, microservices, and message brokers such as Kafka or RabbitMQ.
• Experience with Python.
• Strong foundations in algorithms, data structures, and system design.
• Experience building or integrating AI-powered features, including LLMs, AI APIs, or similar technologies.
• Hands-on experience designing and operating WebSocket-based real-time systems at scale.
• Experience working with high-load production systems, including services supporting 100,000+ users or significant request-per-second volumes.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex distributed systems.
• Experience collaborating across engineering, product, design, and AI teams.
• Strong product mindset and attention to user experience.
• Experience mentoring engineers or contributing to technical leadership.

Nice to Have

• Experience working with LLMs and AI frameworks such as OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, or LangGraph.
• Experience building AI-native products or integrating generative AI into production systems.
• Background working on high-scale or globally distributed applications.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, observability, and production reliability.
• Previous experience in technical leadership or mentoring.

Work Authorization

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Contract-to-Full-Time Opportunity

Contractor Phase

• Hourly contract engagement.
• Initial contract duration of 6–12 months.
• Opportunity to transition to a full-time position based on performance, business needs, and mutual fit.

Potential Full-Time Benefits

Upon successful transition to a full-time role, the position may include:

• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health coverage.
• Paid time off and company holidays.
• Parental leave.
• 401(k) or other retirement options, where applicable.
• Professional development support.
• Wellness and home-office stipends.
• Additional benefits available to full-time employees.