Backend Lead (Node.js)

About the role

This position involves leading the backend engineering efforts for a rapidly expanding AI product. You will guide a team, architect scalable systems, and directly influence the core components of our AI platform.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Guide the backend team through planning, code reviews, and performance management.
• Shape the technical direction and ensure the backend platform is reliable and scalable.
• Enhance the AI orchestration layer, focusing on generation quality, speed, and cost.
• Oversee the development and expansion of the AI Gateway, which handles various generation types.
• Scale backend services and infrastructure to accommodate user growth.
• Uphold high standards for code quality, security, and system observability.
• Implement strategic AI features, including RAG pipelines and AI agent capabilities.
• Collaborate with Frontend, Mobile, QA, AI Engineering, and DevOps teams.
• Work with the Principal Engineer on infrastructure capacity and cost management.

Requirements

• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience with Node.js.
• At least 3 years in a leadership role, including direct people management.
• 3 or more years of practical experience using NestJS.
• Demonstrated success in designing and evolving microservice architectures in production.
• Proficiency with PostgreSQL and Redis.
• Experience with ORMs like Prisma or Drizzle.
• Hands-on experience with AWS services such as EKS, RDS, SQS, S3, CloudWatch, and OpenSearch.
• Strong command of Docker.
• Proven ability to design distributed systems that are reliable, scalable, and observable.
• Solid understanding of on-call procedures and incident response.
• English proficiency at an Upper-Intermediate level or higher.

Nice to have

• Possession of an AWS Architect or Developer certification.
• Familiarity with Terraform.
• Experience building high-volume systems and balancing cost and latency.
• Previous work on payment system integrations.
• Backend development experience for mobile applications or web products.
• Experience with GCP and Cloudflare.
• Track record of hiring engineers and establishing processes in fast-growing companies.
• Commercial experience integrating AI APIs from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google.
• Understanding of multi-model orchestration, including routing and cost optimization.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools.
• Knowledge of RAG, embeddings, MCP, and AI agents, with practical application being a significant advantage.

Skills & tools

• Node.js
• NestJS
• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• Prisma
• Drizzle
• AWS (EKS, RDS, SQS, S3, CloudWatch, OpenSearch)
• Docker
• Microservices
• Distributed Systems
• RAG
• Embeddings
• MCP
• AI Agents

Practical notes

The recruitment process includes an introductory call, a test task, a technical interview, a final interview, and reference checks.