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OtterOtterMountain View, CA

Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Infrastructure)

Lead architecture and development of scalable backend infrastructure and web services that power AI-driven products at Otter.ai. Requires 10+ years experience with Python/Django, distributed databases, and ML-supporting systems on AWS.

210k – 275k
Hybrid10+ YOEBackend Engineering

About the role

Your Impact

  • Define and drive the architecture of scalable solutions utilizing technologies like MySQL, Vitess, Kafka, Cassandra, Redis, and big data platforms — shaping foundational systems that support sophisticated AI applications and workflows across the organization.
  • Leverage your deep expertise in Python to build and enhance backend systems that seamlessly integrate with machine learning and AI models, while establishing engineering best practices for the broader team.
  • Design and implement robust business logic using web frameworks such as Django, ensuring compatibility with AI components and integration with databases — and influence how these patterns are adopted at scale.
  • Write reusable, efficient, and maintainable code that underpins our high-performance web services and supports real-time AI analytics, setting the bar for code quality across teams.
  • Partner with AI teams to streamline data pipelines, optimize model deployment, and ensure backend systems effectively support AI-based product features — often driving alignment across multiple teams simultaneously.
  • Serve as a key technical voice with stakeholders across the organization, translating complex infrastructure strategies into clear direction and influencing roadmaps related to AI-enabled infrastructure.

Requirements

  • Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related field.
  • Strong expertise in databases, distributed systems, backend performance optimization, and familiarity with backend requirements for machine learning infrastructure.
  • Solid understanding of database internals, transactions, indexing, and experience in schema design optimized for AI data workloads.
  • 10+ years of experience in developing and architecting large-scale web services, preferably with exposure to supporting AI systems.
  • Expert proficiency in Python or other programming languages such as Go, Java, or C++.
  • Extensive experience with web frameworks like Django and is comfortable integrating systems with technologies such as MySQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, Kafka, and Cassandra, particularly in support of AI workflows.
  • Hands-on experience deploying and managing services on AWS, particularly those interfacing with machine learning platforms.
  • Driven by ownership and passionate about delivering impactful solutions from conception to deployment, especially in collaborative environments with AI-focused teams.
  • Substantial production server experience or equivalent backend expertise.
  • Excellent communication skills, a genuine curiosity for technology, and meticulous attention to detail.

Nice-to-Haves

  • Familiarity with HTTP, networking principles, and API design patterns beneficial to AI integrations.
  • Experience with operating systems, particularly Linux, and an understanding of their interactions with AI applications and services.

Compensation

Salary Range: $210,000 to $275,000 USD per year. This salary range represents the low and high end of the estimated salary range for this position. The actual base salary offered for the role is dependent on several factors. Our base salary is just one component of a comprehensive total rewards package.

Skills

PythonDjangoMySQLVitessKafkaCassandraRedisElasticsearchAWSGoJavaC++
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