Backend Software Engineer

PERPLEXITY LLC
yesterday

Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Part-time (≤ 32 hours)
Working hours
Regular working hours
Languages
English
Experience level
Senior
Compensation
$ 250K

Job location

Remote

Tech stack

API
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Automation of Tests
Software Quality
Continuous Integration
DevOps
Distributed Systems
Amazon DynamoDB
Github
Python
PostgreSQL
Performance Tuning
Redis
Data Streaming
Management of Software Versions
Data Logging
React
Large Language Models
Reliability of Systems
FastAPI
Kubernetes
Low Latency
Api Design
Api Management
Go

Job description

  • Perplexity is redefining how people search, reason, and interact with information
  • Our API team sits at the core of this vision, designing and operating the high-performance interfaces that expose Perplexity's intelligence to developers, enterprises, and products worldwide
  • This team owns the architecture, reliability, and security of the APIs that power everything from real-time LLM queries to enterprise-scale integrations
  • As a member of our API Platform engineering team, you will shape the technical foundation of Perplexity's external platform.
  • You'll architect distributed systems, optimize performance at scale, and set engineering standards that ensure our APIs are fast, resilient, and a delight to build on
  • Design, build, and operate mission-critical APIs in Python, Go, or Rust optimized for low latency, high throughput, and strong consistency
  • Lead major technical initiatives, from new platform components to multi-team system redesigns
  • Improve system reliability and security by implementing rate limiting, authentication, observability (metrics, tracing, logging), and automated testing
  • Collaborate across teams to determine when to extend existing systems versus build new, specialized services
  • Translate customer needs into scalable platform capabilities and generalized API features
  • Uphold engineering excellence through design reviews, code quality, and internal documentation
  • Tech Stack: Python, Go, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, Redis, FastAPI, React, Bazel, GitHub, AWS

Requirements

  • Hands-on experience running AWS services, plus fluency with Kubernetes, CI/CD, and modern DevOps practices
  • 5+ years of backend engineering experience with Python, Go, or Rust
  • Strong understanding of high-traffic API design: versioning, schema evolution, idempotency, auth patterns, and performance tuning
  • Experience with LLM or natural-language APIs (latency tuning, streaming, model orchestration) is a strong plus
  • Strong customer empathy and product sense, ensuring the APIs you build are ergonomic, well-documented, and easy to adopt

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