What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Software Engineer position at AustinWorks?
Backend Software Engineer
Location: Palo Alto, CA (Hybrid – Tues–Thurs in office)
Compensation: $170 to $215k base
About the Company
Our client is a fast-growing, seed-stage startup building next-generation healthcare technology powered by generative AI. In under two years, they’ve achieved remarkable traction — deploying automation solutions across major hospital systems and surpassing $5M ARR, with projections to more than double that this year. The company is well-funded ($30M seed round, $100M valuation) and backed by leading investors in the AI and healthcare sectors.
Their mission: to build the secure, scalable infrastructure that enables safe, verified AI applications across healthcare enterprises.
The Role
They are seeking a Backend Engineer to design and build the distributed systems that power the company’s core automation platform. You’ll be responsible for developing highly reliable microservices, APIs, and workflow orchestration logic that serve healthcare clients at scale.
This role is open to mid-level to senior engineers — ideally candidates with 3–10 years of backend or platform experience — who want to work on technically challenging systems alongside a world-class team (including alumni from Google, Adobe, Waymo, and C3.ai).
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and scale backend microservices using Python (FastAPI) and Postgres on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Build and optimize REST APIs, asynchronous workflows, and distributed data processing systems.
- Partner with AI and data teams to integrate ML-powered automation into production services.
- Contribute to architecture design discussions around scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
- Work cross-functionally with DevOps, product, and infra teams to deliver production-grade systems.
Tech Stack
- Languages: Python (FastAPI); exposure to Java, Go, or C is a plus
- Database: PostgreSQL
- Cloud: GCP
- Infra-as-Code: Terraform (optional, not required)
Ideal Candidate Profile
- 3–10 years of backend or platform engineering experience
- Strong understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, and systems design
- Proven experience building scalable, production-grade applications
- Solid Computer Science fundamentals (top academic or industry background preferred)
- Clear track record of impact (quantifiable achievements on resume)
- Demonstrated technical passion — e.g., open-source contributions, side projects, or competitive programming
- Background in healthcare or AI is not required
Bonus Skills
- Familiarity with DevOps tools (Terraform, CI/CD pipelines)
- Experience with asynchronous/event-driven systems (Pub/Sub, Kafka)
- Knowledge of large-scale data pipelines or streaming architectures
Culture & Environment
- Collaborative, high-output team culture — engineers have full ownership and autonomy
- No bureaucracy, no ego — just problem-solvers building together
- Leadership values impact, clarity, and accountability
- Team of ~40 engineers, with 14–15 on the platform side
Salary : $170,000 - $220,000