Lead Backend Engineer - job 1 of 2
Job Title: Lead Backend Engineer
Position Type: Full-Time, Remote
Working Hours: U.S. Business Hours
About the Role
We are hiring a Lead Backend Engineer to own the entire technical function of an early-stage SaaS platform. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will write production code daily while making architecture, infrastructure, and AI system decisions for a platform operating at scale.
You will be accountable for backend architecture, system reliability, AI pipelines, and guiding a small development team in a fast-moving startup environment.
Responsibilities
Backend Architecture & Engineering
- Design, build, and maintain a .NET 8.0 / C# backend using Clean Architecture and DDD principles
- Own the architecture and codebase across 14+ independently deployed microservices
- Deliver new features, refactor existing systems, and resolve performance bottlenecks
AI Systems & LLM Orchestration
- Design and operate production-grade AI pipelines across multiple LLM providers
- Optimize prompts and workflows for batch processing, personalization, and segmentation at scale
- Manage rate limits, failover strategies, and cost optimization across AI providers
Databases & Data Infrastructure
- Manage MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB in production environments
- Oversee bulk writes, caching strategies, event streams, and analytics pipelines
- Ensure data consistency and performance across distributed services
Infrastructure, Reliability & Monitoring
- Own Linux-based infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and service deployments
- Implement centralized logging, monitoring, alerting, and uptime tracking
- Proactively identify and mitigate reliability and scalability risks
API Integrations & System Resilience
- Manage 25+ third-party API integrations used in production
- Design retry, fallback, and graceful degradation strategies
- Ensure system stability when external providers fail or degrade
Team Leadership & Engineering Standards
- Lead and mentor a small engineering team through code reviews and architectural guidance
- Set and enforce engineering standards, workflows, and best practices
- Collaborate closely with the founder on product direction and technical strategy
What Makes You a Perfect Fit
- You are a senior, hands-on engineer who enjoys owning systems end-to-end
- You are comfortable being the most experienced technical person on the team
- You balance fast execution with long-term architectural thinking
- You take ownership of reliability, performance, and technical outcomes
- You thrive in early-stage startup environments
Required Experience & Skills
- Deep expertise in .NET 8.0, C#, ASP.NET Core, and Entity Framework Core
- Experience with distributed systems and independently deployed services
- Strong production experience with MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB
- Hands-on DevOps experience with Linux servers and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience managing large numbers of third-party API integrations
- Proven experience building and operating AI/LLM systems at scale
- Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools and workflows
- Strong understanding of monitoring, observability, and incident prevention
- Experience leading small engineering teams
- Strong English communication skills
What Does a Typical Day Look Like ?
- Write and review production backend code
- Make architectural decisions across services, databases, and AI pipelines
- Monitor system health and resolve reliability issues
- Guide developers through code reviews and technical feedback
- Collaborate with the founder on product and system evolution
In short: You own the technical foundation of the platform and ensure it scales reliably while enabling rapid product development.
Key Metrics for Success (KPIs)
- System uptime and service reliability
- Backend and AI system performance improvements
- AI cost efficiency and pipeline stability
- Code quality and deployment reliability
- Team execution and delivery quality
Interview Process
- Initial Screening Call
- Technical Interview with Pavago Recruiter
- Client Interview
- Offer & Onboarding
Average salary estimate
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