Senior Backend Engineer – AI & Data Systems

Team Red Dog is hiring a Senior Backend Engineer – AI & Data Systems for our client, a Fortune 50 technology leader and AI-driven technology organization. In this role, you'll design and build scalable backend systems, synthetic data-generation workflows, and cloud-based data pipelines that support the development of next-generation AI-powered enterprise experiences. Working at the intersection of software engineering, large language models (LLMs), and data infrastructure, you'll develop reliable systems for data processing, orchestration, storage, and automated quality validation. Your work will directly support innovation in Microsoft 365 Copilot, helping engineering and product teams prototype, evaluate, and deliver intelligent experiences at enterprise scale.

Top Required Skills (Must Haves):

1. Backend Software Engineering (5+ years): Strong hands-on experience developing production backend systems using Python, Java/Spring Boot, .NET, or similar technologies. Must demonstrate ownership of scalable services, APIs, modular architectures, automated testing, and ongoing system support.
2. Data Engineering, ETL & Cloud Pipelines: Substantial experience designing, building, and maintaining data-generation systems, ETL workflows, and distributed cloud-based data pipelines. Must understand orchestration, concurrency, asynchronous processing, and resilient failure handling.
3. LLM & AI Systems: Strong working knowledge of large language models, including capabilities, limitations, prompting, model behavior, and common failure modes. Experience integrating or evaluating LLM-based workflows and implementing automated quality checks.
4. Large-Scale Data Architecture & Validation: Experience with data modeling, storage, retrieval, and performance optimization for large datasets. Ability to develop validation frameworks, analyze data quality, troubleshoot system behavior, and make evidence-based engineering decisions.

Opportunity Overview:

This is an opportunity to contribute to the future of AI-powered productivity experiences by building the backend infrastructure that supports Microsoft 365 Copilot innovation. You'll join a collaborative, multidisciplinary team of engineers, designers, researchers, strategists, and product partners exploring how intelligent systems can become more useful, trustworthy, and intuitive.

Rather than focusing solely on traditional backend maintenance, you'll help shape the systems that enable rapid AI prototyping, synthetic data generation, model evaluation, and product experimentation. This role offers significant technical ownership, opportunities to solve complex engineering challenges, and the ability to influence how emerging AI technologies are evaluated and incorporated into enterprise products.

How you will make an impact:

• Design, develop, and enhance scalable synthetic data-generation systems that transform structured inputs, persona information, and organizational context into coherent, traceable, and reproducible datasets.
• Build and maintain cloud-based data pipelines, ETL workflows, and distributed processing systems that support large-scale data generation and analysis.
• Develop orchestration workflows incorporating concurrency, asynchronous execution, and robust error handling to improve pipeline reliability and scalability.
• Design and optimize data models, storage architectures, indexing strategies, and retrieval patterns to efficiently manage large datasets.
• Build automated validation frameworks and data-quality checks to measure accuracy, consistency, reproducibility, and overall system performance.
• Apply quantitative analysis, profiling, and troubleshooting techniques to identify bottlenecks, investigate system behavior, and improve operational efficiency.
• Develop, deploy, monitor, and support reliable backend services using sound cloud engineering and software development practices.
• Evaluate architectural approaches and technical trade-offs to balance performance, scalability, maintainability, and cost.
• Collaborate with engineers, researchers, designers, and product stakeholders to translate evolving requirements into practical technical solutions.
• Maintain automated tests, technical documentation, and operational guidance to support long-term system reliability and maintainability.

The expertise you bring:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering, backend development, or data engineering experience building and supporting production systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Java/Spring Boot, .NET, or comparable backend development languages and frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience designing maintainable backend services, APIs, modular software components, and automated testing frameworks.
• Extensive hands-on experience with data generation, ETL processes, distributed data processing, and scalable cloud-based pipelines.
• Strong understanding of LLMs, including model capabilities, limitations, prompting, evaluation methodologies, and AI workflow integration.
• Experience with workflow orchestration, asynchronous processing, concurrency, streaming or event-driven architectures, and failure recovery.
• Knowledge of large-scale data modeling, storage, partitioning, indexing, retrieval optimization, and database architecture.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, including quantitative performance measurement, data validation, and root-cause analysis.
• Practical cloud engineering experience, including deployment, monitoring, and operational support of production systems.
• Ability to work independently within established codebases, assess existing implementations, and deliver maintainable improvements.
• Strong communication, documentation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, particularly in cross-functional engineering environments.
• Experience with Apache Spark, Kafka, or equivalent distributed processing and event-driven technologies is preferred.
• Familiarity with relational databases, NoSQL systems, cloud object storage, and data lake architectures is preferred.
• Experience integrating LLMs through AI platforms, frameworks, or APIs and evaluating production-oriented AI workflows is preferred.
• Experience with observability, performance tuning, and deployment automation is a plus.
• Previous Microsoft experience is a plus but is not required.

What makes a candidate highly successful in this role:

A highly successful candidate combines strong backend software engineering fundamentals with hands-on experience building sophisticated data pipelines and a practical understanding of modern AI systems. You'll bring the technical depth to independently assess existing architectures, identify opportunities for improvement, and deliver scalable solutions that remain reliable as requirements evolve.

Success requires more than implementing individual features. You'll be comfortable owning complex engineering challenges from initial assessment and design through development, testing, deployment, and ongoing support. Experience building synthetic data-generation systems, integrating LLM-based workflows, and developing automated evaluation frameworks will be particularly valuable.

The strongest candidates are naturally curious, adaptable, and comfortable operating in environments where experimentation and rapid iteration are essential. You'll communicate technical trade-offs clearly, collaborate effectively across engineering and product disciplines, and apply sound judgment to balance innovation with operational reliability.

Why Work with Team Red Dog?

At Team Red Dog, people are at the heart of everything we do. Our commitment to personalized service and our deep experience in matching talented professionals with meaningful roles at some of the world’s most inspiring companies is what sets us apart. We take the time to understand your unique skills, strengths, and passions—because we believe your career should reflect who you are.

Whether you're looking to grow, pivot, or simply find a place where your work truly matters, we offer opportunities that empower you to make a positive impact. With excellent benefits, a supportive team, and a role where you can thrive while doing what you love, we’re here to help you take the next step with confidence. Join us—and discover what it means to be genuinely valued in your career.

Generous benefits package for qualified employees includes:

• Health insurance (medical, dental, vision, and life)
• Employer-matched 401K plan
• Paid Time Off
• Flexible Paid Holiday Benefit

Estimated Start Date: Immediately

Location: Remote, United States. Must be available to work a portion of Pacific Time business hours. Monday–Friday, 40 hours per week; no overtime.

Job #: 2605

Job Type and Estimated Duration: W2 contract opportunity through June 30, 2027, with the potential to extend up to 18 months total, subject to performance, budget, and client discretion.

Rate: $81–$85/hour

Team Red Dog is committed to providing equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic. If you need accommodation during the recruitment process, reach out to hr@teamreddog.com, and we will work to ensure an accessible experience. We strictly adhere to federal, state, and local laws to maintain a workplace free from discrimination and harassment.

We offer competitive compensation aligned with U.S. industry standards, and our final offer will reflect the candidate’s location, job-specific skills, experience, and knowledge.

• All applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for sponsorship.
• Team Red Dog is an E-Verify employer.
• Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a reference and background check.
• Please no solicitations from C2C or recruiting firms.