Senior Software Engineer

Remote – UK / Europe (GMT to GMT+2)

Full-time | Early-stage VC-backed startup

up to £120,000 P/A

We’re hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to join a fast-growing, VC-backed startup building developer-facing AI infrastructure.

This is not a typical “CRUD API” role.

You’ll be building and owning the backend foundations behind AI-powered systems used by real users in production — APIs, distributed services, async workflows, data pipelines, and infrastructure that needs to scale reliably.

What You’ll Work On

• Designing and building production-grade APIs used by external developers
• Owning backend services that support AI agents and large data workflows
• Handling async processing, queues, caching, and traffic spikes
• Building systems that process complex or heavy data payloads
• Collaborating closely with Product & Design in a small, high-autonomy team
• Making pragmatic architectural decisions in a fast-moving environment

What We’re Looking For

• Strong experience building and scaling backend systems in production
• Deep knowledge of Node.js / Type Script

Experience with:

• Distributed systems
• Async workflows
• Event-driven architecture
• Caching strategies
• Experience working in VC-backed startups or small product teams
• Comfortable operating with high autonomy and minimal process
• Strong communication skills in async, remote environments

Nice to Have

• Experience building AI-powered backend systems (LLMs, RAG, agents)
• Experience designing APIs used by other engineers
• Exposure to self-hosted or enterprise deployment models

Not the Right Fit If

• Your experience is primarily frontend-focused
• Most of your background is ecommerce, digital agencies, or enterprise-only environments
• You prefer highly structured orgs with strict roadmaps and layers of management

What You’ll Get

• Competitive salary + meaningful equity
• 35 days holiday (including local holidays)
• Remote-first culture
• High ownership and real impact
• Direct collaboration with founders
• Opportunity to shape backend architecture from the ground up