Sr Engineer (Backend)

We are looking for a senior Backend or API Platform Engineer.

In this role, you’ll architect and scale the foundation that powers delightful developer experiences and production-grade AI systems. You'll work at the intersection of high-performance APIs, scalable infrastructure, and cutting-edge machine learning—delivering tools that enable developers and partners to build on top of Menlo’s intelligent platform.

About Jan

Jan is an Open Intelligence built for simplicity across web, desktop, browser, and mobile. It features a powerful local mode that keeps your data fully private.

Try it at https://jan.ai.
Why: https://www.jan.ai/handbook/why/open-superintelligence

Responsibilities

• Design and build the Menlo API Platform, focusing on high reliability, performance, and a world-class developer experienceDevelop intuitive APIs and SDKs that make it easy for developers to access and integrate multimodal AI capabilities
• Deploy and optimize AI/ML models into scalable, production environments, working closely with research and applied ML teams
• Manage and evolve a modern, cloud-native infrastructure stack, using Kubernetes, Docker, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools
• Ensure platform reliability, including designing and implementing telemetry, monitoring, alerting, autoscaling, failover, and disaster recovery mechanisms
• Contribute to developer and operations workflows, including CI/CD pipelines, release management, and on-call rotations
• Collaborate across teams to implement secure APIs with fine-grained access control, usage metering, and billing integration
• Continuously improve platform performance, cost-efficiency, and observability as we scale to serve millions of users worldwide

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience building and operating large-scale, production systems with real-world usage and uptime expectations
• Strong experience with containerization and orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, and service mesh technologies (e.g., Istio or Linkerd)
• Proficiency with cloud platforms: AWS, GCP, or Azure — including experience with IAM, networking, and serverless tooling
• Hands-on coding skills in Python and JavaScript/TypeScript, with familiarity in backend frameworks (e.g., FastAPI, Express)
• Deep knowledge of API architecture and design patterns: WebRTC/Websockets, REST, gRPC, OpenAPI/Swagger, authentication (OAuth2, API keys), and versioning
• Experience with databases: PostgreSQL, Redis, and modern vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, FAISS)
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, GitOps practices, and tools like GitHub Actions, Argo CD, or Jenkins
• Comfortable with monitoring and observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, or OpenTelemetry

Bonus Experience

• Experience with MLOps tools and AI workflows: model versioning, inference pipelines, model registries, etc.
• Understanding of access control systems: ACLs, RBAC, multi-tenant security and isolation
• Knowledge of billing systems, rate limiting, chargeback models, quota enforcement, and usage metering
• Prior experience working on developer platforms or API products with a strong focus on UX and documentation

Application Rules

• Please submit only 1 application, as you will be considered across all roles. Duplicate submissions will auto-delete
• Join our Discord to check out how we build in public
• We conduct reference checks and, when relevant, background verifications for final-stage candidates. To maintain the integrity of our hiring process, AI-generated or suspicious applications are automatically filtered out. Your authenticity and genuine interest matter.