Senior Backend Software Engineer

Senior Backend Software Engineer Function: Engineering Location: Metro DC Preferred (Hybrid: Tuesdays & Thursdays In-Office) Type: Full-Time (must be currently authorized to work in the United States) Reports To: VP of Engineering About Holokai Holokai is building the platform enterprises need in today’s dynamic AI landscape to accelerate the secure adoption of AI. Our product lets organizations deploy AI tools safely through model access controls, distributed governance, and real-time policy enforcement, while still delivering real user productivity through a desktop chat experience and integrated agentic workflows. We are an early-stage startup with pilot customers, rapid product iteration, and direct customer feedback loops. The Role We’re looking for a backend engineer to build core products alongside our co-founders and senior engineering team. You won’t pull pre-scoped tickets from a backlog. You’ll work with our senior engineers and leadership to decide what to build, then build it well. The Holokai platform spans a user desktop application, policy enforcement engine, an agentic workflow orchestrator, a model-agnostic gateway, and a SaaS management console. You’ll work across all of it, primarily in TypeScript and Go with some Python. The hard parts are genuinely hard, including sub-100ms policy evaluation, multi-model orchestration, and enterprise-grade security. We want someone who stays clear-headed in that complexity. We need engineers who have built and owned critical production solutions running at real scale to serve exacting enterprise customers. We’re heavy AI users in how we build, not just in what we ship. AI-assisted development is core to how this team works; we want someone who puts AI to work but catches it when it’s about to steer them wrong. Write simple code, ship often, and own what you put in production. What You’ll Work On Backend services: APIs, data pipelines, integrations, and core business logicPolicy enforcement: deterministic evaluation engines, rules processing, and classificationAgentic orchestration: multi-step AI plans using LLM’s, executed as deterministic workflows with policy checkpoints built inModel gateway: routing and translation across LLM providers, token management, and request handlingData layer: PostgreSQL schema design, query optimization, and data modelingProduction ownership: you monitor, debug, and fix what you ship Who Thrives Here Engineers who write code every day and want to keep it that wayPeople who use AI tools seriously and keep hunting for the next edgeSelf-starters who take a problem, find the approach, and deliver without being told howPeople drawn to the applied science of AI who want to make enterprise AI work for real How We Work At a start-up our size and stage, there's no living in a silo. Engineering, product, sales, and customer success all own success together. We work hard and support each other, and no amount of great code makes up for being difficult to work with. We need curious people who have played the tech start-up game long enough to learn humility, drive and the genuine joy of working and succeeding on a great team. Required Skills Strong production experience in TypeScript and Go (Python a plus): real services running in production, not scripts and notebooksDesigning and building APIs (REST, gRPC, or similar) and backend service architectureRelational databases, PostgreSQL: schema design, query performance, migrationsReading and extending code you didn’t write, quickly and confidentlyFluent with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, Cursor, or similar); you use them daily and they make you meaningfully fasterProduction experience with AWSContainerized deployments (Docker, ECS, EKS, or similar)Self-directed and comfortable with minimal structure in a fast-moving start-up environment Nice to Have LLM APIs and AI/ML pipelines: prompt engineering, model integration, token economicsPolicy engines or rules-based systems (OPA/Rego, decision engines, or similar)Message queues and event-driven architectures (RabbitMQ, SQS, Kafka)Frontend chops (React); not the focus, but handy for closing the loop on a featureEnterprise security, compliance, or governance experience (e.g. SOC 2, GDPR, etc.) Compensation & Benefits Compensation commensurate with experience, with the opportunity for equity participation. We offer comprehensive Healthcare Coverage (including Vision, Dental, and Life), Unlimited PTO, Hybrid flexibility, and more. Education Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. How to Apply Complete the LinkedIn process or send your resume and a brief note to talent@holokai.ai