Senior Backend Engineer

Sandboxx is the leading platform dedicated to finding and building technology solutions throughout a service member's military life cycle. We're looking for people with drive and initiative who are excited about making great technology and a positive attitude for our service members.  Come help us build meaningful solutions for the military community!

Senior Backend Engineer (AI-Accelerated)

• This is a full-time W2, in-office position based in Middleburg, Virginia.

• We offer a generous relocation stipend to make your move smooth and stress-free.

• Our office is dog-friendly, your four-legged friends are welcome here!

Sandboxx is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer who is passionate about cloud-native systems, scalable architectures, and AI integrations. You will be at the forefront of designing, building, and optimizing our backend services and APIs, while driving the integration of machine learning and AI-based features into our products. You’ll collaborate with a small, highly skilled team of engineers across iOS, Android, and web (React) while owning the backend roadmap.

We’re a mission-driven team building products that matter. If you’re motivated by purposeful work, enjoy end-to-end ownership, and have experience leveraging AI coding tools to move faster and build smarter, this role is for you.

While we offer the flexibility to hire remote talent for the right fit, we have a strong preference for in-person collaboration at our Middleburg, VA headquarters and offer an enhanced compensation package for candidates willing to be onsite.

What You’ll Do

• Architect & Build: Design and implement robust backend services, APIs, and event-driven systems using Python, Go, and GraphQL.
• AI & ML Integration: Collaborate with the team to incorporate LLMs, AI-driven personalization, and intelligent workflows into our products.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Manage, scale, and optimize services on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including Pub/Sub, Cloud Run, BigQuery, and Cloud Functions.
• API Design & Security: Build and maintain secure, high-performance GraphQL APIs and REST endpoints.
• Data Management: Work with structured and unstructured data, ensuring data pipelines are reliable, efficient, and ready for AI/ML workloads.
• DevOps & Observability: Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and logging with modern tools.
• Innovation: Evaluate and prototype new technologies, especially AI-focused frameworks and cloud-native architectures.

About You

• 5 years of experience building and scaling production backend systems, ideally in high-growth or product-focused environments.
• Deep fluency in Python and Go, with strong knowledge of building secure APIs (REST and GraphQL).
• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Anthropic) in your workflow.
• Strong foundation in cloud-native architectures with GCP (Pub/Sub, Cloud Run, BigQuery, IAM).
• Comfortable with asynchronous programming patterns and event-driven architectures.
• Experience integrating REST APIs and GraphQL, including schema design and performance optimization.
• Prior experience deploying features via CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, CircleCI).
• Passion for clean code, maintainable systems, and high performance.
• Familiarity with data privacy, security best practices, and compliance requirements (e.g., SOC 2).
• Self-directed and proactive—especially in a fully remote environment.
• Bonus: Experience with Strapi, containerized applications (Docker/Kubernetes), or AI/ML pipelines.

Tech Stack

• Languages & Frameworks: Python (FastAPI, Flask), Go, GraphQL (Apollo/Hasura), Typescript, Strapi CMS
• Architecture: Microservices, Event-Driven Architecture, Clean Architecture, Serverless (Cloud Functions/Cloud Run)
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Pub/Sub, BigQuery, Cloud Storage, IAM, Cloud Armor
• AI & ML: OpenAI (ChatGPT APIs), Vertex AI, Hugging Face Transformers, custom LLM integrations
• Data & Databases: PostgreSQL, Firestore, Redis, BigQuery
• Testing: Pytest, Go test, Postman/Newman, k6 (performance testing)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, CircleCI, Terraform (IaC), Docker, Kubernetes
• Monitoring & Security: Datadog, Cloud Logging/Monitoring, Snyk, OWASP ZAP, GCP Security Command Center
• Tooling: GitHub Copilot, VSCode, GoLand, Pre-commit hooks, Black, Flake8, GoLint
• 3rd Party Integrations: Braintree, Stripe, WooCommerce, Medusa, SendGrid

Interview Process

1. Application Review: Assessed by our hiring manager.
2. CTO Chat: 30-minute intro focused on team fit and values.
3. In-depth Coding Session: A 1-hour real-world programming exercise focused on architectural thinking, clean code, and testing. Done in a collaborative format.
4. Offer Stage: If it’s a match, we move fast.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary equity options
• 100% company-paid health, dental, and vision (employee-only plans)
• 401(k) with company match
• Unlimited PTO 11 company holidays year-end holiday break
• 12 weeks paid parental leave for all parents
• $1,500/year learning & development budget
• $1,000/year wellness stipend

At Sandboxx, we believe technology should serve people, not replace them.

Come help us shape the future of how service members stay connected, informed, and empowered while building with the tools of tomorrow.

Sandboxx is an equal opportunity employer - if you are a continuous learner who enjoys startups in either tech or military, you'll thrive at Sandboxx.  We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and take affirmative action to not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected characteristics.  This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, promotion, termination, compensation, benefits, and training.  Sandboxx is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities who need assistance during the hiring process. 

To all recruitment agencies: Sandboxx does not accept agency resumes.  Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Sandboxx employees, or any other organization location.  Sandboxx is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.