Senior Backend Engineer – AI & Data Systems

Team Red Dog is hiring a Senior Backend Engineer AI & Data Systems for our client a Fortune 50 technology leader and AI-driven technology this role youll design and build scalable backend systems synthetic data-generation workflows and cloud-based data pipelines that support the development of next-generation AI-powered enterprise experiences. Working at the intersection of software engineering large language models (LLMs) and data infrastructure youll develop reliable systems for data processing orchestration storage and automated quality validation. Your work will directly support innovation in Microsoft 365 Copilot helping engineering and product teams prototype evaluate and deliver intelligent experiences at enterprise scale.

Top Required Skills (Must Haves):

1. Backend Software Engineering (5 years): Strong hands-on experience developing production backend systems using Python Java/Spring or similar technologies. Must demonstrate ownership of scalable services APIs modular architectures automated testing and ongoing system support.
2. Data Engineering ETL & Cloud Pipelines: Substantial experience designing building and maintaining data-generation systems ETL workflows and distributed cloud-based data pipelines. Must understand orchestration concurrency asynchronous processing and resilient failure handling.
3. LLM & AI Systems: Strong working knowledge of large language models including capabilities limitations prompting model behavior and common failure modes. Experience integrating or evaluating LLM-based workflows and implementing automated quality checks.
4. Large-Scale Data Architecture & Validation: Experience with data modeling storage retrieval and performance optimization for large datasets. Ability to develop validation frameworks analyze data quality troubleshoot system behavior and make evidence-based engineering decisions.

Opportunity Overview:

This is an opportunity to contribute to the future of AI-powered productivity experiences by building the backend infrastructure that supports Microsoft 365 Copilot innovation. Youll join a collaborative multidisciplinary team of engineers designers researchers strategists and product partners exploring how intelligent systems can become more useful trustworthy and intuitive.

Rather than focusing solely on traditional backend maintenance youll help shape the systems that enable rapid AI prototyping synthetic data generation model evaluation and product experimentation. This role offers significant technical ownership opportunities to solve complex engineering challenges and the ability to influence how emerging AI technologies are evaluated and incorporated into enterprise products.

How you will make an impact:

• Design develop and enhance scalable synthetic data-generation systems that transform structured inputs persona information and organizational context into coherent traceable and reproducible datasets.
• Build and maintain cloud-based data pipelines ETL workflows and distributed processing systems that support large-scale data generation and analysis.
• Develop orchestration workflows incorporating concurrency asynchronous execution and robust error handling to improve pipeline reliability and scalability.
• Design and optimize data models storage architectures indexing strategies and retrieval patterns to efficiently manage large datasets.
• Build automated validation frameworks and data-quality checks to measure accuracy consistency reproducibility and overall system performance.
• Apply quantitative analysis profiling and troubleshooting techniques to identify bottlenecks investigate system behavior and improve operational efficiency.
• Develop deploy monitor and support reliable backend services using sound cloud engineering and software development practices.
• Evaluate architectural approaches and technical trade-offs to balance performance scalability maintainability and cost.
• Collaborate with engineers researchers designers and product stakeholders to translate evolving requirements into practical technical solutions.
• Maintain automated tests technical documentation and operational guidance to support long-term system reliability and maintainability.

The expertise you bring:

• 5 years of professional software engineering backend development or data engineering experience building and supporting production systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python Java/Spring or comparable backend development languages and frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience designing maintainable backend services APIs modular software components and automated testing frameworks.
• Extensive hands-on experience with data generation ETL processes distributed data processing and scalable cloud-based pipelines.
• Strong understanding of LLMs including model capabilities limitations prompting evaluation methodologies and AI workflow integration.
• Experience with workflow orchestration asynchronous processing concurrency streaming or event-driven architectures and failure recovery.
• Knowledge of large-scale data modeling storage partitioning indexing retrieval optimization and database architecture.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills including quantitative performance measurement data validation and root-cause analysis.
• Practical cloud engineering experience including deployment monitoring and operational support of production systems.
• Ability to work independently within established codebases assess existing implementations and deliver maintainable improvements.
• Strong communication documentation collaboration and problem-solving skills particularly in cross-functional engineering environments.
• Experience with Apache Spark Kafka or equivalent distributed processing and event-driven technologies is preferred.
• Familiarity with relational databases NoSQL systems cloud object storage and data lake architectures is preferred.
• Experience integrating LLMs through AI platforms frameworks or APIs and evaluating production-oriented AI workflows is preferred.
• Experience with observability performance tuning and deployment automation is a plus.
• Previous Microsoft experience is a plus but is not required.

What makes a candidate highly successful in this role:

A highly successful candidate combines strong backend software engineering fundamentals with hands-on experience building sophisticated data pipelines and a practical understanding of modern AI systems. Youll bring the technical depth to independently assess existing architectures identify opportunities for improvement and deliver scalable solutions that remain reliable as requirements evolve.

Success requires more than implementing individual features. Youll be comfortable owning complex engineering challenges from initial assessment and design through development testing deployment and ongoing support. Experience building synthetic data-generation systems integrating LLM-based workflows and developing automated evaluation frameworks will be particularly valuable.

The strongest candidates are naturally curious adaptable and comfortable operating in environments where experimentation and rapid iteration are essential. Youll communicate technical trade-offs clearly collaborate effectively across engineering and product disciplines and apply sound judgment to balance innovation with operational reliability.

Why Work with Team Red Dog

At Team Red Dog people are at the heart of everything we do. Our commitment to personalized service and our deep experience in matching talented professionals with meaningful roles at some of the worlds most inspiring companies is what sets us apart. We take the time to understand your unique skills strengths and passionsbecause we believe your career should reflect who you are.

Whether youre looking to grow pivot or simply find a place where your work truly matters we offer opportunities that empower you to make a positive impact. With excellent benefits a supportive team and a role where you can thrive while doing what you love were here to help you take the next step with confidence. Join usand discover what it means to be genuinely valued in your career.

Generous benefits package for qualified employees includes:

• Health insurance (medical dental vision and life)
• Employer-matched 401K plan
• Paid Time Off
• Flexible Paid Holiday Benefit

Estimated Start Date: Immediately

Location: Remote United States. Must be available to work a portion of Pacific Time business hours. MondayFriday 40 hours per week; no overtime.

Job #: 2605

Job Type and Estimated Duration: W2 contract opportunity through June 30 2027 with the potential to extend up to 18 months total subject to performance budget and client discretion.

Rate: $81$85/hour

Team Red Dog is committed to providing equal opportunities to everyone regardless of race ethnicity gender age religion sexual orientation disability or any other characteristic. If you need accommodation during the recruitment process reach out to and we will work to ensure an accessible experience. We strictly adhere to federal state and local laws to maintain a workplace free from discrimination and harassment.

We offer competitive compensation aligned with U.S. industry standards and our final offer will reflect the candidates location job-specific skills experience and knowledge.

• All applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for sponsorship.
• Team Red Dog is an E-Verify employer.
• Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a reference and background check.
• Please no solicitations from C2C or recruiting firms.

Required Experience:

Senior IC