Role Details

Location

San Francisco

Salary (est. USD)

~$100K - $160K (est. USD)

Estimated based on role seniority, company stage (Series B), and industry benchmarks. Actual compensation may vary.

How is this calculated?

Seniority band Mid-level

Base range $100K – $160K

Based on Web3 & AI industry compensation data. Seniority is inferred from role title keywords. Company stage affects ranges: early-stage (−15%), late-stage/public (+10%).

Department

Mobile

Type

Full-time

Vertical

AI

Hiring Manager

Best Guess

Job Description

Perplexity is looking for an experienced Backend Engineer to join our small team revolutionizing the way people search and interact with the internet. You will be responsible for leading design, implementation, and scaling of backend systems that power web, mobile, and browser products.

Tech Stack: Python | PostgreSQL | DynamoDB | Redis | FastAPI

Responsibilities

Build scalable systems that ingest and process data from the web, files, and other sources.
Optimize interfaces that interact with databases and caching systems.
Collaborate with PMs, frontend engineers, and other stakeholders to understand product requirements.
Work closely with AI, Search, and Data Science teams to iterate on non-deterministic systems.
Manage a complex orchestration system with many moving parts and interfaces.
Scale, optimize, and load balance multiple services with rapidly changing needs.

Qualifications

Strong experience with Python
Strong experience with databases and caching
Experience with AWS cloud infrastructure at scale
Experience working with high-scale data and non-deterministic systems like LLMs
4+ years of engineering experience
AI is at the heart of what we build, and using it effectively is an expectation for every role here. During interviews, we want to see how you think and make decisions—qualities that will directly influence our AI development. With that in mind, please avoid using AI tools throughout the process unless we indicate otherwise.