Senior Backend Engineer
Pavago

Job Title: Senior Backend Engineer (.NET / AI Systems)r Position Type: Full-Time, Remote Working Hours: U.S. Business Hours

About the Role We are hiring a Senior Backend Engineer (.NET / AI Systems) 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