Senior Backend Developer - AI

EPAM is a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and development services. We are committed to having a positive impact on our customers, our employees, and our communities. We embrace a dynamic and inclusive culture. Here you will collaborate with multi-national teams, contribute to a myriad of innovative projects that deliver the most creative and cutting-edge solutions, and have an opportunity to continuously learn and grow. No matter where you are located, you will join a dedicated, creative, and diverse community that will help you discover your fullest potential. We are seeking a Senior Backend Developer to join our AI Pods team, building robust AI-powered API services and agentic workflows. This role focuses on language model interaction with internal systems, vector databases, and external tools via orchestration frameworks, treating LLMs as components in a secure, scalable distributed system. Responsibilities Design and build backend API services and LLM orchestration layersOwn API contracts and service reliability end-to-end, ensuring AI edge cases fail gracefullyIntegrate LLMs using rigorous systems engineering, bake in evaluation, observability, fallback handling, and cost awarenessImplement and maintain complex RAG pipelines, including document ingestion, chunking, embedding, and retrieval optimizationDevelop and connect agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, and potentially MCP (Model Context Protocol)Build reliable, reusable orchestration frameworks and logic for downstream developer consumptionEnsure security, privacy, enterprise-grade observability, and test coverage across all backend workflowsContribute to architecture decisions and engineering standards within the podCollaborate with frontend engineers, data engineers, and infrastructure teams Requirements 3+ years of backend engineering experience, focused on microservices and distributed systemsProficiency in Python for high-performance backend services and cloud-native APIsFamiliarity with AWS, Docker, and ECS/EKSKnowledge of RESTful APIsUnderstanding of secure coding practices and strong auth/authz fundamentalsEnglish proficiency at B2 level or higher Nice to have 1+ years of hands-on experience with AI SDKs (OpenAI, Anthropic/Claude, AWS Bedrock, or equivalent) in productionPractical experience with vector databases (Amazon Kendra, OpenSearch), embedding strategies, and retrieval systemsHands-on experience with LangChain, LlamaIndex, or LangGraphFamiliarity with AI evaluation tooling or real-time APM (LangSmith, Langfuse, Arize)Skills in React and TypeScriptExperience deploying to EKS environments at scaleUnderstanding of agent interoperability patterns (MCP)Knowledge of identity/security domain (IAM, CIAM)Flexibility to use secondary languages such as Java, Node.js, or Go We offer International projects with top brandsWork with global teams of highly skilled, diverse peersHealthcare benefitsEmployee financial programsPaid time off and sick leaveUpskilling, reskilling and certification coursesUnlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning library and 22,000+ coursesGlobal career opportunitiesVolunteer and community involvement opportunitiesEPAM Employee GroupsAward-winning culture recognized by Glassdoor, Newsweek and LinkedIn EPAM is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.