Backend Engineer

London, England, United Kingdom; New York, New York, United States; San Francisco, California, United States; Seattle, Washington, United States$180,000 - $250,000

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Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

The Way We Work

The people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:

Move with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.
Take Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.
Communicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.
Build Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.
Raise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.
Think Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.

What We're Looking For

We’re looking for a Backend Engineer to help develop and scale the Lightning AI platform, spanning APIs, infrastructure, billing, security, and integrations. In this role, you’ll take ownership of key features and drive them end-to-end, working closely with engineering, product, and design to ship high-quality, iterative improvements. This is an opportunity to build systems that support real-world machine learning workloads at scale.

This role is based in one of our hubs (Seattle, NYC, SF, or London), with a minimum of 2 in-office days per week and occasional team and company offsites. We are not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position at this time.

What You’ll Do

Write readable/testable/efficient code in Go (Golang).
Build deep expertise in our technology stack to deliver new features, improve system stability, and increase overall performance.
Partner with engineering and product leaders on developing the Lightning product while using your experience to set the technical direction for large projects.
Evaluate, strengthen, and document technical architecture, tools, and processes.
Maintain software quality, implement automation, drive continuous delivery, and reduce time to production while proactively reducing technical debt.
Mentor and coach engineers on system design, operating in high uncertainty, and problem-solving to create a supportive, inclusive environment where each engineer can grow.

What You’ll Need

Extensive experience writing efficient, maintainable code in Go. Familiarity with best practices in testing, readability, and optimization is essential.
Broad knowledge of backend and frontend systems, with experience building and scaling APIs, CLI tools, billing systems, and security protocols. Exposure to frontend frameworks is a plus.
Experience with cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure and designing systems that are reliable, performant, and scalable. Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) is a strong advantage.
Proven ability to take ownership of key features and drive end-to-end development
Commitment to software quality, test automation, and continuous delivery. Experience proactively managing technical debt and speeding up time to production.
Hands-on experience as a backend or product engineer in a SaaS technology company
Communication and collaboration with engineers, product managers, and designers
Ability to operate in high uncertainty and rapidly changing environments

Compensation

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:

$180,000—$250,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success:

Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.
Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.
Company-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.
Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.
Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.
In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.

Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.

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