What You Bring 5+ years building and shipping production-grade back end and data systems in distributed cloud environments (AWS and/or GCP). Hands-on AI/ML integration in production workflows. You have shipped systems where AI, LLM, or agent-based components are part of the production runtime — not just prototypes or research. You can speak to the architectural tradeoffs of integrating AI into live backend systems. Active use of AI-assisted development tooling as a workflow multiplier. You currently use AI tooling (Copilot, Cursor, or equivalent) to accelerate your engineering output and can articulate specifically how it increases your throughput. You stay current on relevant tooling without being directed to do so. Strong back end expertise in Java (Spring Boot), Python, and/or Go. Hands-on experience with relational and non-relational databases, data modeling, and query optimization. Demonstrated expertise in automated testing, CI/CD, and observability. High-Velocity ownership - candidates should thrive in high-ownership, builder-first environments where shipping daily and owning outcomes are fundamental to the role. Demonstrated ability to break work into small, incremental deliveries and maintain strong delivery flow. You have a track record of decomposing complex work into small, safely mergeable increments and shipping software solutions to solve customer pain continuously. You can describe your approach to scope deconstruction and provide concrete examples.
