About the Position

We are looking for a Backend Engineer to join our team and work on AI-driven products. This role is based in San Francisco but is remote.

About Engenious

Engenious is a technology company building next-generation AI products that transform how people work, learn, and create. We partner with fast-growing startups and global companies to design and scale intelligent systems - from AI-powered applications to full-stack platforms used by millions.

Responsibilities

Build and ship end-to-end features across the high-load backend services
Design scalable APIs and services
Build and integrate AI-powered features into product workflows
Work with LLM-based systems and AI-driven services
Improve performance, reliability, and system architecture
Collaborate with product, design, and AI teams (both Engenious and client-side)
Contribute to technical decisions and engineering standards
Mentor engineers and support team growth

What You’ll Work On

AI-powered writing and productivity tools
Systems for AI transparency and authorship clarity
Citation and attribution workflows
Plagiarism and AI-usage detection
Integrations with educational platforms and tools

Requirements

5+ years of experience in backend development
Strong experience with Java and Spring Boot is a must
Knowledge of system scaling, REST APIs, GraphQL, microservices, and message brokers (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
Experience with Python
Strong fundamentals in algorithms and system design
Experience building or integrating AI-powered features (LLMs, APIs, or similar)
Experience building and scaling production systems
Experience debugging complex systems
Strong product mindset and attention to user experience
Hands-on experience designing and operating WebSocket-based real-time systems at scale
Experience working within cross-team collaboration responsible for high-load production systems, including services serving 100,000+ users or operating at significant request-per-second scale

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire; we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Nice to Have

Experience working with LLMs or AI frameworks (OpenAI, Antropic), LangChain, Langraph, etc.
Background in high-scale applications
Experience mentoring or leading engineers

Contract to Full-time Conversion

Contractor Phase

Hourly rate
Contract duration - 6-12 months
Potential transition timeline

Full-Time Conversion (Future Opportunity)

Full-Time Benefits
- Comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental, vision, mental health)
- Paid time off and holidays
- Parental leave
- 401(k) / retirement options (if applicable)
- Professional development support
- Additional stipends (wellness, home office, etc.)

Please note: These benefits are available only upon full-time employment and are not applicable during the contractor phase.

Backend Engineer — San Francisco (Remote)

Job description