The Frontier Data team builds the data and systems that power Scale’s most advanced Frontier AI use cases (agentic capabilities like coding agents, tool use, and GUI / computer-use automation). Our work sits at the intersection of applied AI and robust backend engineering: we turn messy, ambiguous problems into scalable platforms and pipelines that reliably produce high-quality outcomes.
We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and enjoys tackling daunting challenges - someone who can design and build scalable systems while partnering closely with research, product, operations, and other engineering teams.
What You’ll Do
- Own major backend systems for frontier agentic data products, driving projects from early exploration through production deployment.
- Build scalable services and pipelines that support agent workflows (e.g., coding, tool-use orchestration, GUI/computer-use tasks), with strong reliability and observability.
- Architect modular, reusable backend systems that adapt to evolving product needs while maintaining scalability, reliability, and clean interfaces.
- Operate in high-ambiguity environments: break down open-ended problems, propose approaches, and execute with speed and clarity.
- Partner cross-functionally with product, research/ML, and infrastructure teams to define requirements and ship impactful systems.
- Improve system performance and cost efficiency through thoughtful architecture, profiling, and iterative optimization.
- Raise the engineering bar through design reviews, code reviews, and pragmatic best practices.
Ideal Experience
- 5+ years of full-time software engineering experience (post-graduation).
- Strong backend engineering fundamentals: distributed systems, API design, data modeling, and production reliability.
- Strong experience with Docker and containerized development/production environments (building images, debugging, and operating container-based services.
- Demonstrated ability to ship quickly in ambiguous, fast-changing environments (high-growth startup experience is a plus).
- Experience building systems that scale: queues, async processing, workflow engines, data pipelines, or similar.
- Comfort working close to AI/ML systems (production experience welcome; curiosity and strong fundamentals also valued).
- Proficiency with SQL and modern database-backed application development.
