Senior Backend Engineer

Our client is building AI agents for customs brokers and the broader logistics industry, a $10T market still running on manual, document-heavy workflows. Their AI automatically tracks regulation updates (including Chapter 99), drafts customs entries, and integrates directly with existing broker systems (Gmail, Microsoft Teams, Slack, CargoWise, Descartes), cutting clearance times to under 5 minutes and delivering 3x throughput per entry writer. Backed by First Round Capital and Pear VC ($5M raised), Amari has achieved clear PMF with 30+ customers, >100% MoM revenue growth, and 30,000+ hours returned to brokerage teams. The team comes from Google, LinkedIn, and Salesforce.The Role: As a Senior Backend Engineer at Amari, you will own the core data infrastructure powering their AI-driven logistics platform. This is a high-ownership, zero-to-one role; you'll design and scale the systems that ingest, process, and serve real-time logistics data across AI pipelines, queues, databases, and search layers. You'll set technical direction for the backend, operate with significant autonomy, and have an outsized impact on product reliability and performance from day one.What You'll DoArchitect and scale distributed backend systems, design queue pipelines, communication hubs, and observability layers, and build for failure with retry strategies, circuit breakers, and graceful degradationOwn database design and reliability, schema design, indexing, query optimization, and data pipelines that keep systems in sync at scaleBuild an AI search infrastructure for real-time logistics lookup and AI-driven featuresDefine service boundaries and set engineering standards for the backendCollaborate directly with founders on roadmap and technical directionHelp hire and mentor future backend engineers as the team scalesRequirements Must Have4–6 years of professional backend software engineering experienceMeaningful time in a high-growth startup or high-scale production environmentDemonstrated ability to own and ship backend systems end-to-end in fast-moving, ambiguous environmentsTrack record of making sound architectural trade-offs under time pressure and revisiting decisions as requirements evolve Strong opinions about backend systems, held loosely, defended with clarityReal startup experience (10+ person company), not just big tech. startup experience is a MUSTSelf-starter, you prefer being handed a problem over a set of tickets and own the outcome, not just the codeBased in SF or committed to relocating (in-person, non-negotiable)H1B transfer OK · OPT OK · No new sponsorshipNice to HaveExperience with distributed systems, message queues (e.g. Kafka, RabbitMQ, SQS), and event-drivenFamiliarity with AI/ML pipeline infrastructure or document processing at scaleBackground at a high-growth Series A/B startup or as a founding engineerExposure to enterprise software requirements — security, data retention, privacy, complianceExperience with search infrastructure (e.g., Elasticsearch, pgvector)Logistics, customs, or regulated industry software experienceTop U.S. 50 university background (soft preference)This Role Is NOT For You IfYou need large team structures, extensive documentation, or clearly defined quarterly roadmaps to be productiveYou prefer isolated, single-component work with a narrowly bounded scopeAmbiguity and rapid pivots in early-stage startups are uncomfortable for youSuccess MetricsSystem Reliability: Core logistics services and queue-driven workflows maintain high uptime and low error rates under production loadThroughput & Latency: Message processing pipelines and search queries meet defined SLAs as data volumes growArchitectural Quality: Backend systems are extensible, well-documented, and enable other engineers to build confidently on top of your foundationsVelocity: Scope, build, and ship new backend capabilities within sprint cycles without sacrificing correctness or resilienceAutonomy: Resolve complex technical blockers independently and surface the right issues at the right timeWhy This RoleRevenue grew ~9x in the last 8 months, joining at the right inflection pointDirect mentorship from founders (ex-Google, ex-LinkedIn)Full end-to-end ownership from day one, no tickets, no bureaucracyWork on genuinely hard technical problems at the intersection of AI and global trade30,000+ hours already returned to brokerage teams — the product works, now it needs to scaleRequirements4-6 years of professional backend software engineering experienceDistributed systems design, queues, pipelines, observabilityDatabase ownership, PostgreSQL schema design, indexing, optimizationAbility to ship end-to-end with minimal supervisionBased in SF or willing to relocate (in-person required)Compensation & PerksBase salary: $180,000–$260,000Equity: 0.2–0.5%Free office lunches and dinnersEscape rooms, happy hours, team eventsHealth insurance (fully covered) · Dental & vision (75% covered)If you are looking for a new opportunity, and this role or location isn’t a match, please feel free to reach out directly to me at JenniferL@oculusgroup.com to learn about other opportunities we are working on.