Senior Backend Engineer, Voice AI

About the role

Via is dedicated to transforming public transportation systems to enhance access to jobs, healthcare, and education. Our platform serves as the technological backbone for modern transit networks, turning outdated public transportation systems into efficient, data-driven networks that better serve communities. As a Senior Backend Engineer focusing on Voice AI, you will be instrumental in developing the core technology behind our Voice AI agent, a next-generation conversational interface designed to improve user interactions and accessibility. This position offers a unique opportunity to take ownership of critical AI systems that directly impact the daily experiences of thousands of riders, helping to shape the future of urban mobility through innovative voice technology. You will work closely with product managers, data scientists, and frontend engineers to build scalable, reliable, and intelligent voice solutions that seamlessly integrate with our existing platform.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead the end-to-end development of Via's customer-facing Voice AI agent, ensuring that interactions are natural, responsive, and intuitive for users across various scenarios.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services that support real-time voice communication features, ensuring high availability and low latency.
• Collaborate with data scientists and AI specialists to integrate advanced AI models, including large language models (LLMs), into the Voice AI platform, optimizing for performance and accuracy.
• Explore emerging AI technologies, tools, and frameworks, continuously evaluating their potential to enhance the capabilities of our Voice AI agent.
• Implement prompt engineering techniques to improve the quality and relevance of AI-generated responses, tailoring interactions to user needs.
• Develop APIs and backend infrastructure to support multi-modal interactions, including voice commands, contextual understanding, and follow-up conversations.
• Work closely with frontend and product teams to define requirements, translate user stories into technical specifications, and deliver features that meet business goals.
• Mentor junior engineers and foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning within the team.
• Conduct code reviews, architectural discussions, and testing to ensure code quality, scalability, and security standards are met.
• Support deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of AI systems in production environments, troubleshooting issues and optimizing performance as needed.
• Stay updated on the latest advancements in AI, NLP, speech recognition, and voice technology to keep Via at the forefront of innovation in this space.
• Contribute to the documentation of system architecture, APIs, and best practices to facilitate knowledge sharing within the team.
• Identify opportunities for product improvements based on user feedback and AI performance metrics, proposing new features or enhancements.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of Voice AI features into the overall platform and user experience.
• Participate in strategic planning and product discussions to align AI development with company objectives and customer needs.

Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in backend development, with a proven track record of delivering production-ready systems at scale.
• Demonstrated strong interest or experience in AI, with familiarity in working with large language models, prompt engineering, and conversational AI technologies.
• Proficiency in Python, with experience in AI frameworks and APIs such as OpenAI or Hugging Face.
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to new AI tools, models, and frameworks, staying current with industry trends.
• Strong ownership mentality, with the ability to identify product challenges and work proactively to develop solutions.
• Excellent collaboration skills, with experience working effectively across cross-disciplinary teams including product managers, data scientists, and frontend engineers.
• Experience mentoring or leading engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Knowledge of scalable backend architecture, cloud computing platforms, and deployment pipelines.
• Familiarity with natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition, and voice technology is a plus.
• Ability to troubleshoot and optimize AI systems in production environments, ensuring reliability and performance.
• Passion for AI and voice technology, with a desire to stay updated on the latest research and industry developments.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze complex technical challenges and deliver effective solutions.

Nice to have

• Prior experience working on voice or conversational AI projects, especially in transportation or customer service domains.
• Hands-on experience deploying and fine-tuning large language models for production use.
• Knowledge of speech recognition technologies, natural language understanding, and dialogue management systems.
• Familiarity with data privacy and security considerations related to AI and voice data.
• Experience working in fast-paced startup environments, adapting quickly to changing priorities and requirements.
• Ability to contribute to strategic discussions around AI product roadmaps and technological innovations.

Skills & tools

• Python programming language
• AI frameworks and APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Hugging Face)
• Cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Scalable backend architecture and microservices design
• Prompt engineering and fine-tuning techniques for LLMs
• Version control systems like Git
• Collaboration tools for code review and project management
• Monitoring and logging tools for AI system performance

Practical notes

• This is an on-site role based in Tel Aviv, with a hybrid work model.
• The office is located in Midtown, Tel Aviv, close to public transportation options.
• Compensation includes a competitive salary package along with equity options.
• Benefits encompass health insurance with family member discounts, flexible working arrangements, and a variety of team perks such as fitness classes, meal options, and social events.
• The role involves working with cutting-edge AI technologies and contributing to impactful transportation solutions that improve urban mobility.
• You will be part of a dynamic team committed to innovation, collaboration, and making a tangible difference in public transit through voice AI.