Backend Engineer

All roles San Francisco, CA Backend Engineer San Francisco, CAFull-timeMid-levelOn-site Zof AI is hiring for this role in San Francisco, CA. This is a full-time opportunity for candidates who want to contribute directly to the development of ambitious AI products in a high-performance environment. Daily hands-on use of AI coding agents to design, build, and debug backend systems is required. Compensation Competitive salary Plus meaningful equity Apply for this role About This Role Zof AI is seeking a Backend Engineer to own the services, APIs, and data layer that our agent fleets run on. This role covers job orchestration and queueing for long-running agent runs, Postgres schema and query performance, and the storage paths for the evidence and validation artifacts every fix we ship depends on. If you have worked as a Backend Software Engineer, API Engineer, Platform Engineer, or Distributed Systems Engineer, this is that discipline at Zof AI. The ideal candidate writes clear, well-tested services, reasons carefully about failure and state, and treats throughput, correctness, and cost as everyday engineering constraints. Responsibilities Design, build, and operate the services and APIs our agent fleets run on.Build the job orchestration and queueing that keeps long-running agent work moving.Own Postgres schema design, migrations, and query performance as data grows.Ship the storage and retrieval paths for the evidence and traces every agent run produces.Instrument services so failures are observable, debuggable, and recoverable.Harden reliability with testing, retries, idempotency, and backpressure under real load.Partner with product and AI engineers to turn agent behavior into stable interfaces.Own backend systems from design through production. Requirements Experience building and shipping backend services in production.Strong software engineering foundation.Working knowledge of relational databases and SQL, ideally Postgres.Familiarity with APIs, queues, and asynchronous job processing.Ability to debug performance and correctness issues in running systems.Habit of proving your work with tests and evidence before it ships.Clear written and verbal communication.Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment. Nice to have Experience with TypeScript, Node.js, Python, Postgres, or similar technologies.Experience with distributed systems, event-driven architecture, or streaming pipelines.Experience with cloud platforms, containers, and CI/CD.Experience supporting AI or agent workloads in production. Backend EngineeringAPIsDistributed SystemsPostgresReliability What we provide in San Francisco MacBook Pro Premium AI development tools Cursor Ultra Claude Code Ultra OpenAI Codex Max or equivalent advanced AI tooling Access to a high-performance AI product environment Close collaboration with leadership, engineering, and customers Opportunity to work in the San Francisco AI ecosystem Wellness and productivity support where applicable Competitive startup environment High ownership Direct product impact Benefits may depend on role and final offer terms. Apply Apply for Backend Engineer This application is for the Backend Engineer role in San Francisco, CA. Please complete every required field. You are applying for Backend Engineer San Francisco, CA Company website 1 Basic information Full name* Email* Phone or WhatsApp number* Current location* City and country 2 Professional links LinkedIn URL* GitHub URL* Portfolio or personal website (optional) Resume or CV link* A link to Google Drive, Dropbox, LinkedIn, your website, or a PDF 3 Role-specific background Years of experience* Strongest programming languages Best project link (optional) AI tools you use Comfort with frontend Select a levelBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedExpert Comfort with backend Select a levelBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedExpert Comfort with databases Select a levelBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedExpert Comfort with AI coding tools Select a levelBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedExpert Systems or products you have worked on 0/3000 4 Location fit Are you able to work from or relocate to the San Francisco area for this role?* Select an answerYesOpen to it, with details belowNo Earliest start date or availability* Relocation or work authorization note (optional) 5 Written responses Why are you interested in Zof AI?* 0/3000 Why are you interested in this location?* 0/3000 What is the strongest evidence that you would succeed in this role?* 0/3000 What is the hardest thing you have built, sold, owned, or led?* 0/3000 How do you currently use AI tools in your work?* For example, describe a project where you used AI tools to build faster, improve quality, or solve a difficult technical problem. 0/3000 How did you hear about us? (optional) Education (optional) Anything else you would like us to know? (optional) 0/3000 6 Final confirmation I understand this is a location-based role and have reviewed the location requirements.* I confirm that the information I have provided is accurate.* By submitting, you agree that Zof AI may store and review your application for hiring purposes. Related roles Accra, GhanaFull-timeMid-levelOn-site Backend Engineer Zof AI is seeking a Backend Engineer to own the services, APIs, and data layer that our agent fleets run on. This role covers job orchestration and queueing for long-running agent runs, Postgres schema and query performance, and the storage paths for the evidence and validation artifacts every fix we ship depends on. If you have worked as a Backend Software Engineer, API Engineer, Platform Engineer, or Distributed Systems Engineer, this is that discipline at Zof AI. The ideal candidate writes clear, well-tested services, reasons carefully about failure and state, and treats throughput, correctness, and cost as everyday engineering constraints. GHS 6,500-13,000 / month Backend EngineeringAPIsDistributed SystemsPostgresReliability View roleApply