Principal Backend Engineer (Forward Deployed)

3 months ago

Austin, TX, USA +2 moreStaff+

H1B Sponsor

Base Salary

$227k - $366k/yr

Responsibilities

Partner with delivery and executive stakeholders to scope, design, and lead implementation of AI-driven solutions.
Identify transformational opportunities in messy, ambiguous workflows and turn them into repeatable systems.
Lead architecture design and trade-off discussions across performance, scalability, cost, and reliability.
Own projects from first discovery call through full deployment, including client-facing delivery and post-launch iteration.
Build shared infrastructure, reusable components, and internal playbooks to level-up the team.
Coach and mentor mid-level engineers and help shape the culture of forward-deployed AI engineering.

10+ years of software engineering experience, including significant time spent building data, ML, or backend systems.
Deep proficiency in Python with hands-on experience using ML/LLM frameworks like Hugging Face and OpenAI.
Skilled in full-stack and API-based deployment patterns, including Docker, FastAPI, and Kubernetes.
Experienced with workflow orchestration libraries and pub/sub systems like Kafka.
Expertise in data governance and operations, including Delta/ETL pipelines and data quality enforcement.
Strong product and system design instincts with the ability to translate business needs into technical architecture.
Excellent communication and client-facing skills, capable of leading discussions with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Proven experience owning projects from scoping through deployment in high-stakes environments.
Willingness to be on-call for customers when situations arise.
Ability to travel 25–50% of the time for client engagements.
Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, or related fields, or equivalent professional experience.