Source Job

$150,000–$250,000/yr
US

  • Own backend architecture, databases, and infrastructure end to end
  • Set and raise the engineering bar for a platform handling real estate transaction contracts
  • Build AI-natively with a substantial annual AI/token budget

Backend Engineering Systems Design Databases Infrastructure AI Development

20 jobs similar to Principal / Staff Backend Engineer

Jobs ranked by similarity.

US Unlimited PTO

  • Design, architect, and implement AI-powered backend systems that automate and optimize software development workflows.
  • Identify friction points across the engineering lifecycle and transform them into scalable, reliable automation solutions.
  • Collaborate with globally distributed engineering teams to share tooling, best practices, technical roadmaps, and reusable solutions.

$178,500–$178,500/yr
Global

  • Lead complex backend projects using Perl, Go, and Node.js, writing pragmatic and performant code.
  • Collaborate remotely to solve product issues impacting the all-in-one privacy solution.
  • Mentor other engineers to support their career growth and team development.

DuckDuckGo is an online protection company on a mission to raise the standard of trust online. Founded in 2008, with over 300 team members, it has been profitable since 2014 and generates over $100 million USD in annual revenue, fostering a culture of trust, inclusivity, and empowered project management.

$140,000–$200,000/yr
Global 5w PTO

  • Own AI features end-to-end, from agentic workflows and RAG pipelines to production infrastructure.
  • Build evaluation frameworks and experimentation loops to turn models into reliable, production-grade systems.
  • Partner with product and domain experts to push the frontier of AI capabilities inside an ERP.

DualEntry builds an AI-native ERP that automates manual data entry for accounting teams, serving companies from $5M ARR to NYSE-listed firms. It is a small, fast-growing startup with a culture of urgency and ownership, backed by top venture capital firms.

UK

  • Design and build scalable backend systems for Midnite's internal back office platform.
  • Lead and mentor a small team of engineers while remaining hands-on in delivery.
  • Productionise and deploy AI-powered tools for engineering and business use cases.

Midnite is a next-generation sports betting and gaming platform built for a new wave of players. We are a high-performance team of over 400,000 players operating at pace, with high ownership and constant iteration.

Argentina

  • Design and build secure infrastructure for AI-assisted development and testing.
  • Implement data-access security across the platform and cross-cutting application features.
  • Manage your own projects, communicating designs, plans, and status updates proactively.

HomeVision builds AI-powered software for the $13 trillion mortgage industry. Their small, hungry team values ownership, low ego, and clear communication, tackling hard problems from design to deployment.

$195,000–$260,000/yr
Americas 5w PTO 12w maternity 12w paternity

  • Tackle the highest-leverage problem on the board, shipping across backend, infra, tooling, and occasionally frontend.
  • Unblock other engineers by building tools and fixes they need.
  • Own hard, cross-cutting problems that don't fit neatly on any one team, raising the bar on reliability and developer experience.

Firecrawl converts any URL into clean, LLM-ready markdown or structured data, solving the boring-hard problem for AI agents. We hit 8 figures in ARR in year one, have 147k+ GitHub stars, and are a small team punching above our weight with a culture of ownership and urgency.

US

  • Build AI agents that interact with customers and handle accounting autonomously.
  • Construct an accounting ledger from scratch and integrate with financial data providers.
  • Ship new features daily in Typescript/Node/Svelte, making quick decisions and taking risks.

Synthetic synthetically recreates bookkeeping using AI, processing financial data and managing workflows autonomously. Founded in 2025, we are a five-person team backed by Khosla Ventures, building on experience from Bench Accounting and Teal.

EMEA 5w PTO

  • Own problem spaces end to end: write specs, acceptance criteria, and own the architecture.
  • Build AI into the product, e.g., turning free-text email replies into bookable quotes.
  • Make AI trustworthy with structured outputs, evals, and confidence-gated human review.

Cargo.one operates an AI-native operating system for freight, serving 30,000+ users across 172 countries with customers like Lufthansa Cargo and Kuehne+Nagel, backed by Index and Bessemer. The culture is positive, diverse, hard-working, feedback-heavy, and playful.

India Unlimited PTO

  • Design and build scalable backend systems for AI governance, including auditability, policy enforcement, and enterprise reporting.
  • Collaborate with distributed engineering teams to define architecture and improve engineering practices for secure AI adoption.
  • Mentor engineers and contribute to technical direction in a remote, asynchronous environment.

This role is offered through Jobgether, an AI-powered matching platform that connects candidates with hiring companies. Jobgether uses advanced systems to review applications and share top-fitting candidates directly with employers.

$146,000–$182,500/yr
Canada 4w PTO

  • Design, build, and maintain backend APIs and services that power our AI workflow platform at scale.
  • Own complex projects end-to-end from architecture through production with full ownership and quick iteration.
  • Collaborate with a remote-first team to ship multiple times per day, using AI coding tools to accelerate development.

We're building an AI-native platform that helps marketing and creative teams at top e-commerce brands understand which ads are working and ship more winning creative across major ad platforms. We're a Series B remote-first team, currently under 100 headcount, growing 2.5x year over year, led by second-time founders.

Canada

  • Design, develop, and deploy production-grade AI-powered backend systems.
  • Integrate large language models and machine learning models into scalable architectures.
  • Optimize system performance and implement strong testing practices.

Our partner company is building advanced AI-powered systems to create meaningful customer value. The team operates in a high-autonomy, fast-moving environment focused on production-ready AI solutions.

Global

  • Build and own Fundable's core backend including customer-facing APIs, AI microservices, and a workflow builder.
  • Lead architecture decisions, implementation, and deployment with TypeScript/Node.js or Python, PostgreSQL, and cloud platforms.
  • Work directly with founders in a high-autonomy role to solve ambiguous problems and ship production systems.

Fundable provides real-time startup data and signals that help growth teams find new startup customers and help investors source their next deals. It is a small, fast-moving team that values high autonomy and an AI-first approach.

$173,000–$255,000/yr
US

  • Own bank systems end-to-end, including infrastructure, data platform, and vendor integrations.
  • Leverage AI tools as a force multiplier for code, design, and operations.
  • Partner with compliance and risk to build examiner-ready systems and documentation.

Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers flexibility to buy now and pay later without hidden fees. It is a remote-first public company with a strong engineering culture and a focus on employee wellbeing.

  • Design, build, and maintain backend systems with a focus on scalability and performance.
  • Develop high-performance APIs, microservices, and cloud-based architectures.
  • Collaborate with founders to define technical strategy and align it with business goals.

SignalFire is a venture capital firm that partners with top early-stage startups shaping the future of technology. With a portfolio of over 200 innovative companies across AI, cybersecurity, healthtech, fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS, they connect exceptional engineers with exclusive early-stage opportunities.

India Europe

  • Architect and optimize a large-scale, fault-tolerant system processing billions of AI events in real time.
  • Set technical direction for securing data flowing into and out of AI models and agents.
  • Design and build connectors integrating with SaaS and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot.

Cyberhaven is redefining data security by tracing how sensitive data actually moves across endpoints, cloud, SaaS, and AI tools. Backed by $250M from leading investors, their team includes leaders from CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Meta, and Google.

$158,000–$190,000/yr
US Unlimited PTO

  • Build shared services, APIs, and workflows supporting administrative experiences, integrations, and core platform capabilities.
  • Design reliable backend systems for cross-domain business flows and apply AI effectively throughout the software lifecycle.
  • Contribute reusable engineering skills and patterns, partner with peers, and own quality through testing and production ownership.

ezCater is the #1 food tech platform for workplaces in the US, making it easy for organizations to manage food needs from over 125,000 restaurants nationwide. The company values work/life harmony and offers a high-performing, innovative environment with engaged and passionate colleagues.

$130,000–$200,000/yr
Global Unlimited PTO

  • Contribute to frontend and backend development using Python, Typescript, and Go Lang with a focus on Python and Typescript.
  • Support and develop our open-source SDK to ensure it remains intuitive for developers integrating with Runpod's platform.
  • Collaborate with engineering and AI teams to develop features and fix bugs enhancing the user experience for AI engineers.

Runpod is pioneering the future of AI and machine learning, offering cutting-edge cloud infrastructure for full-stack AI applications. Founded in 2022, we are a rapidly growing, well-funded company with a remote-first organization spread globally.

Canada

  • Design, develop, and deploy production-grade AI-powered backend systems integrating LLMs and traditional ML models.
  • Integrate and optimize vector databases for RAG pipelines, and write clean, well-structured Python code.
  • Debug complex cross-layer issues and collaborate with product and engineering teams to deliver cohesive solutions.

We are a fast-growing product company integrating cutting-edge AI capabilities into our core offering to deliver exceptional value to customers. Our small, fast-moving team works on practical, real-world AI applications with high autonomy.

$190,000–$220,000/yr
Unlimited PTO

  • Own the design and implementation of Benepass's internal AI platform from 0 to 1.
  • Accelerate the engineering SDLC with AI-assisted coding, CI/CD integration, and quality automation.
  • Build agentic workflows and knowledge systems that scale across the company.

Benepass is a fintech platform that makes employee benefits easy, allowing companies to customize perks for their workforce. We're a fast-growing startup backed by major investors with $75M raised and named one of Inc.'s Best Workplaces.

USA Unlimited PTO 14w maternity 14w paternity

  • Work directly with customers to understand workflows and build production-ready AI applications.
  • Contribute to core platform and customer-specific integrations, applying AI/ML and LLM techniques.
  • Own delivery from prototype to production, including architecture, backend services, and deployment.

Trase Systems, founded in 2023, is an AI company that simplifies enterprise AI adoption. It tops the Hugging Face GAIA Leaderboard and serves complex industries such as Healthcare, Oil & Gas, and National Security.