Senior Backend Engineer, Firsthand
$160-220k
Offers Equity
3 days a week in office
AI-powered brand agents built for marketers and publishers
Open for applications
AI-powered brand agents built for marketers and publishers
21-100 employees
Open for applications
$160-220k
Offers Equity
3 days a week in office
21-100 employees
Company mission
To leverage the power of AI to drive first hand connections between publishers, brands, and consumers.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of professional backend development experience with strong expertise in Python and modern web frameworks
- Deep expertise in Python with production experience building high-throughput APIs and background task processing
- Strong database skills in query optimization, schema design, and experience with vector databases
- Production experience with multi-tenant SaaS architectures, including data isolation patterns, tenant-aware query design, and scalability considerations
- Hands-on experience with caching strategies and distributed task queues
- Experience with cloud platforms (Google Cloud Platform preferred) and containerized deployments
- Excellent problem-solving skills with experience debugging production issues and optimizing system performance
- Self-driven and collaborative with experience mentoring team members and driving technical decisions in a fast-paced startup environment
What the job involves
- We're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to architect and scale our AI platform's backend infrastructure
- Building scalable backend systems using Python and other technologies to support our AI-powered applications
- Designing and implementing multi-tenant architectures with strict data isolation, ensuring secure and performant access patterns across backend components
- Optimizing high-performance APIs that integrate with LLM workflows, vector search, and real-time AI processing pipelines
- Leading database architecture decisions, including schema design, query optimization, and migration strategies
- Mentoring junior engineers on best practices for async programming, database design, and production system reliability
Our take
Until recently, brands and publishers lacked a practical means to interact in real-time, 1-1 conversations and provide content with customers both on and off their digital platforms. Firsthand is a specialized AI agent platform designed to cater to the needs of publishers and brands.
The platform offers a solution that enables publishers and brands to manage, safeguard, and utilize their data and content in direct conversational campaigns driven by tailored AI agents. This capability extends to various online channels where consumers actively seek information.
Now, with significant funding behind it, Firsthand is scaling its AI-powered brand agent after a successful pilot with select brands and publishers. Because of this, its emerging as a key player in AI-driven consumer interactions and building the infrastructure for the next wave of intelligent brand engagement.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (1 round)
Mar 2025
$26m
SERIES A
Total funding: $26m
Company benefits
- Flexible work model: We embrace the flexibility of hybrid work, combining the energy of in-person collaboration in New York City with the freedom of working remotely
- Benefits that meet your needs: We offer unlimited PTO, 401(k) from day 1, zero-cost medical plans, and paid parental leave, with benefits that are constantly evolving as our company grows
Company HQ
Midtown South, New York, NY
Leadership
Jonathan Heller
(Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Chairman)Previously Co-founder and CEO of Multitude.ai and FreeWheel. Also worked as Chief Product Officer for Comcast Advanced Advertising.
Michael Rubenstein
(Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Board Director)Also currently a Board Member of Vistar Media. Prior work includes Co-founding OpenStore and Founding and working as General Manager, DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) Google.
Wei Wei
(Co-Founder & CTO)Previously the Co-founder and CTO for Flux, prior to that worked as VP of Engineering at FreeWheel.
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