Sr Backend Engineer - AI

We are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to design, build, and scale AI-powered backend services using large language models (LLMs) and Microsoft Azure services. This role is focused on LLM integration, orchestration, and production-grade AI systems, not UI development.

You will work on secure, scalable backend services that power AI-driven applications used by internal teams. This role is ideal for an experienced backend engineer who has applied LLMs in real production environments.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain backend services that leverage LLMs
• Develop and operate LLM-powered workflows (prompt orchestration, grounding, structured outputs)
• Implement retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) patterns using embeddings and search
• Integrate LLM services into existing enterprise systems via APIs
• Build secure, scalable services using Python and Azure-native components
• Optimize AI solutions for performance, cost, reliability, and accuracy
• Apply best practices for error handling, logging, monitoring, and observability
• Work within established CI/CD and DevOps pipelines to deploy and operate services
• Collaborate with frontend engineers, platform teams, and non-technical stakeholders
• Stay current with advancements in Azure AI and LLM capabilities

• 5+ years of backend or application development experience
• Strong proficiency in Python
• Hands-on experience building or integrating LLM-based systems
• Strong experience with Azure services, including:

• Azure AI / Azure OpenAI
• Azure App Services, Functions, or Containers
• Identity, security, and access controls

• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs
• Understanding of AI concepts such as:

• Prompt engineering and orchestration
• Embeddings and semantic search
• AI limitations and failure modes

• Experience operating services in a production cloud environment

Nice to Have

• Experience with vector databases or search services
• Experience integrating AI into regulated or security-sensitive environments
• Familiarity with TypeScript or JavaScript for API consumption
• Experience collaborating closely with frontend/UI teams

What This Role Is Not

• Not a frontend or UI role
• Not an ML research or data science role
• Not responsible for owning DevOps infrastructure design