Backend Engineer

Position: Backend Engineer - AI Ops & Session Architect

Who You Are

What You'll Build

• Story Session Engine: Complex state management for interactive narratives with XP tracking, choice branching, undo functionality, and multi-session persistence
• AI Service Gateway: Route and orchestrate calls to multiple AI providers with intelligent fallbacks, rate limiting, and cost optimization
• Real-time Gameplay APIs: WebSocket-powered story progression with typing animations, choice handling, and live AI generation
• User & Credit Management: JWT/OAuth authentication, subscription tiers, AI credit metering, and premium feature gating
• Performance Infrastructure: Redis caching, background job queues, and database optimization for story-heavy workloads
  

Tech Stack You'll Own

• Core: Python FastAPI, async/await, WebSockets, Celery/RQ
• Storage: PostgreSQL (complex story relationships), Redis (sessions, cache, rate limits)
• AI Integration: Multiple provider APIs, streaming responses, error recovery
• Auth & Security: JWT, OAuth 2.0, rate limiting, abuse detection
• Deploy: Docker, basic CDN integration, monitoring and alerting
  

You Should Know

• How to build APIs that feel instant even when calling slow AI services
• Database design for complex interactive content and user progression
• WebSocket management for real-time story experiences
• Background job processing for long-running AI generation
• Security patterns for creative platforms with user-generated content
  

Bonus Points

• Built real-time multiplayer systems, gaming backends, or content platforms
• Experience with AI API integration and cost optimization
• Know how to fake scalability that works 95% of the time
  

Day 1 Goals

• Optimize existing API performance and identify bottlenecks
• Implement comprehensive error handling for AI service failures
• Build monitoring dashboard for system health and AI costs
  

Apply with:

Please Note: This will be a full-time contractual role