Senior Backend Engineer

About the Role

A fast-growing, Y Combinator–backed AI startup in the supply chain space is looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join their small, high-velocity engineering team in San Francisco. You'll build the backbone of an AI-powered platform that plans and executes how consumer goods are produced and moved globally — turning the messy, physical flow of goods into programmable, reliable, scalable systems.

This is an end-to-end ownership role at a seed-stage company (fewer than 10 people) operating at the intersection of AI, logistics, and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). You'll have a direct and meaningful impact on the core product from day one.

What You'll Do

• Design and implement backend systems that power AI-driven supply chain decisions and automated execution.

• Architect data models and pipelines to ingest, clean, and organize messy, real-world supply chain data.

• Ensure user requests and supply chain plans are processed in real time for reliable, 24/7 operation.

• Build scalable, high-performance SQL queries and data access patterns across large datasets.

• Ship production-grade services using modern backend frameworks and rigorous testing practices.

• Collaborate closely with the core product and engineering team to translate logistics workflows into software.

• Own and continuously improve deployment pipelines and runbook processes to keep systems running reliably.

• Leverage AI code generation and management tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode) to accelerate development, including parallelizing service instances for continuous operation.

What We're Looking For

Must-haves (dealbreakers):

• 5+ years of hands-on experience as a Backend Engineer with a strong track record of designing data architectures and shipping real products.

• Proficiency in Python and modern backend frameworks such as FastAPI, with testing tools like pytest.

• Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode), including experience parallelizing instances for autonomous, 24/7 operation.

Required skills:

• Experience organizing and managing messy, real-world data at scale.

• Strong SQL skills — writing high-performance queries over millions of data points.

• Solid system design skills; comfortable designing scalable data architectures with minimal supervision.

• Experience owning backend systems end-to-end, including real-time request processing.

• Experience with large-scale data architectures and systems engineering.

Nice to have:

• Experience building unstructured data ingestion systems.

• Experience with frontend frameworks and their testing tools.

• Familiarity with DevOps practices and AWS.

• Background or genuine interest in supply chain, logistics, or CPG industries.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $110,000 – $200,000 USD annually, depending on experience.

• Early-stage equity in a well-funded, high-growth startup.

• Visa sponsorship available.

Location

This is an on-site role based in San Francisco, CA. You'll work alongside a tight-knit, fast-moving team in person. Remote arrangements are not available for this position.