Staff Backend Engineer (AI)

TL;DR

Staff Backend Engineer (AI): Leading and scaling backend infrastructure for hirify.global’s user-facing products with an accent on distributed systems, real-time collaboration, and AI-powered workflows. Focus on architecting high-performance APIs, ensuring system reliability at scale, and driving technical excellence across the engineering team.

Location: Must be based in or able to work on-site in Palo Alto, CA (3–5 days/week)

Salary: $185,000 – $300,000

Company

hirify.global is an AI startup on a mission to make video creation seamless, intuitive, and accessible to everyone through advanced generative AI technology.

What you will do

• Architect and develop scalable, high-performing backend systems and APIs for all product services.
• Build and maintain distributed infrastructure in cloud environments like AWS or GCP.
• Take ownership of backend features from initial ideation through launch and iteration.
• Develop systems to support low-latency, real-time collaboration and messaging at scale.
• Design and optimize backend integrations for generative AI-driven product capabilities.
• Lead technical discussions, perform code reviews, and mentor engineers to elevate team standards.

Requirements

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience, including 2+ years in senior roles.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, RESTful/real-time APIs, and cloud-native infrastructure.
• Proven ability to design and implement reliable, scalable services for high-traffic applications.
• Strong track record of launching impactful backend features.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.
• Must be able to work on-site in Palo Alto, CA.

Nice to have

• Experience with real-time collaboration platforms or media-rich applications.
• Familiarity with integrating generative AI or agent-based systems.
• Previous experience in high-growth startup environments.
• Competitive coding, hackathon, or open-source contributions.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity in a rapidly growing AI startup.
• Comprehensive health benefits and monthly stipends.
• Supportive, collaborative office culture focused on building and launching together.
• Regular company retreats.