> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/2074708-senior-backend-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/2074708-senior-backend-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Senior Backend Engineer

- **Company:** Instrumentl Inc.
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States (Remote available)
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $175,000.0 - $220,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Continuous Integration, Python (Programming Language), Node.Js, Ruby on Rails, Rapid Prototyping Process, Recommender Systems, SQL Databases, TypeScript, Google Cloud, Large Language Models, Backend, Fastapi, Kubernetes, Celery, Data Pipelines, Docker
- **Published:** August 15, 2026
- **Apply:** https://arc.dev/remote-jobs/j/redirect/pb8v6e8bah

## About the Role

* 7+ years building and shipping production backend systems in Python (FastAPI, Celery, or equivalent), taking features from prototype to production with real reliability practices like tests, observability, and rollback.
 * Hands-on experience building LLM features in production: tool and function calling, multi-step agent workflows, and the guardrails and evals that keep them grounded, safe, and cost-effective. This is the core of the role.
 * Strong data fundamentals: SQL, schema design, and building pipelines that power retrieval and evaluation.
 * Thrives in a fast, scrappy startup environment with high ownership and a bias for action, speed, quality, and simplicity.

Nice to have

 * TypeScript and Node, plus familiarity with Ruby on Rails (our core platform) or a willingness to learn it.
 * Experience with AWS or GCP, Docker, CI/CD, and observability (logs, metrics, traces).
 * RAG depth: document ingestion, chunking and windowing, embeddings, hybrid search (keyword plus vector), re-ranking, and grounded citations.
 * Experience with re-rankers and cross-encoders, hybrid retrieval tuning, or search and recommendation systems.
 * Evaluation mindset: designing eval suites (RAG/QA, extraction, summarization) using automated and human-in-the-loop methods, with familiarity with frameworks like Ragas, DeepEval, or OpenAI Evals.
 * Orchestration frameworks: LangChain or LangGraph, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or custom orchestration.

## Description

We're hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to own AI features end to end, from rapid prototype to production and the evaluation that keeps them honest. You'll build the APIs, tool-using agents, and RAG pipelines that turn frontier LLMs into grant discovery, application drafting, and research tools our 5,500+ nonprofits rely on every day. It's a high-ownership seat on a small team, where what you ship reaches customers fast and you help shape how we build AI here.


## Related Videos

- [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops)
- [Intro to FastAPI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/462-intro-to-fastapi)
- [Celery on AWS ECS - the art of background tasks & continuous deployment](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/561-celery-on-aws-ecs-the-art-of-background-tasks-continuous-deployment)
- [Docker Compose: Rediscovered](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1978-docker-compose-rediscovered)
- [Multilingual NLP pipeline up and running from scratch](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/901-multilingual-nlp-pipeline-up-and-running-from-scratch)
- [Inside Bitpanda's Tech Stack: Scaling a European Fintech Leader - Markus Dorner](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1979-inside-bitpanda-s-tech-stack-scaling-a-european-fintech-leader-markus-dorner)

## Related Articles

- [The 7 Most Popular Backend Frameworks for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/403-the-7-most-popular-backend-frameworks-for-developers)
- [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers)
- [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again)
- [Dev Digest 137 - AI'm not sure about this](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/485-dev-digest-137-ai-m-not-sure-about-this)
- [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline)
- [What’s the Difference Between Frontend and Backend Development?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/240-what-s-the-difference-between-frontend-and-backend-development)