Lead Backend Engineer

Join a leading legal technology company as a Lead Backend Engineer , driving the development of high-impact AI-enabled enterprise solutions for the legal industry. This is a player-coach role, blending hands-on technical work with team leadership as you guide a group of ~5 engineers in building and integrating backend systems for next-generation legal products. Role Overview Serve as technical lead for a backend engineering team, both architecting and implementing solutions in a fast-paced innovation lab setting. Deliver hands-on backend development using Python , FastAPI , AWS , PostgreSQL , pgvector (or comparable vector dbs), and LLMs (Anthropic, OpenAI). Lead the full lifecycle of AI platform development, orchestration, and deployment , with 0→1 product creation responsibilities. Design and iterate on secure, scalable APIs supporting real-time interactions, integrations, and enterprise workflows. Drive best practices in backend development, including high performance, extensibility, and robust data management for legal domain use cases. Key Responsibilities Technical leadership: Coach, mentor, and review work for a team of backend engineers; set standards for architectural decisions and development velocity. Full-stack backend engineering: Write, test, and deploy code, architectural diagrams, and technical documentation supporting integration and product delivery. AI product innovation: Lead the technical design for new-to-market, AI-powered legal tech products (0→1 development), including data pipelines, orchestration, and API interactions. Enterprise integration: Develop backend services and APIs for seamless integration with legal market tools, third-party applications, and client-facing solutions. Platform reliability: Own operational excellence in platform performance, security, and scalability. Requirements Minimum 5 years commercial experience (outside of education) in backend engineering or related fields in high-scale environments. Demonstrated experience as a technical lead , team lead, or engineering manager, with direct responsibility for engineering deliverables and mentorship. Proven 0→1 AI product development experience, from concept/prototyping to deployment (ideally in legal, enterprise, or SaaS). Advanced proficiency in Python , FastAPI , and AWS infrastructure and services. Strong hands-on experience with PostgreSQL , pgvector (or similar vector databases), and designing data models for AI/ML applications. Experience building, integrating, and deploying LLM-driven features using platforms such as Anthropic or OpenAI . Deep understanding of API design for real-time interactions, backend orchestration, and multi-system integration. Hybrid schedule : 2 days/week onsite in Plano, TX, Twin Cities, MN, or NYC (remaining days remote). Full benefits package : health, dental, vision, vacation leave, parental leave. Equity up to 15% of total base compensation Annual bonus #J-18808-Ljbffr Harnham