API Engineer (AI)

TL;DR

API Engineer (TypeScript/AI): Designing and scaling the core API platform to support millions of users and high-request volumes with an accent on task orchestration, database performance, and infrastructure reliability. Focus on building enterprise-grade features, optimizing Postgres queries, and implementing robust async workflows for AI model inference.

Location: Remote (Salary range provided is for candidates in the U.S.; candidates outside this region are considered with adjusted compensation)

Salary: $240K – $290K

Company

Runway is building AI world models to simulate reality by merging art and science.

What you will do

• Own the full API lifecycle for public and internal APIs, from design and implementation to monitoring and documentation.
• Design and implement async workflows for task orchestration, content moderation, and post-processing pipelines.
• Optimize Postgres database queries to improve performance for high-traffic systems.
• Build and maintain rate limiting, fraud detection, and credit management systems.
• Implement comprehensive API security, authentication, and monitoring to ensure reliability at scale.
• Improve the public API developer experience by creating better SDKs and tooling.

Requirements

• 3+ years of industry experience building production APIs.
• Strong proficiency in TypeScript.
• Experience owning systems end-to-end, including infrastructure, monitoring, logging, and incident response.
• Deep understanding of API design patterns, REST principles, and async workflows.
• Experience with relational databases (Postgres preferred) and query optimization.
• Experience architecting production-ready systems at scale using AWS, GCP, or Azure cloud primitives.

Culture & Benefits

• Commitment to pay equity and competitive market rates.
• Inclusive work environment valuing diverse backgrounds.
• Opportunity to work on the frontier of AI and general-purpose simulation.
• Culture of humility, open-mindedness, and continuous learning.