Software Engineer, Backend
At a glance
Mid-level Backend Engineering role at Mirage. New York · full-time · $175,000–$300,000 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build and run backend services, APIs, data pipelines and infrastructure from initial design through production
- Tackle distributed systems, concurrency, scaling and performance problems across product and platform work
- Deploy and operate generative AI models in production, combining internal research with external capabilities
- Use production instrumentation and experiments to improve system reliability and product quality
- Run platform foundations such as storage, security, provider connections and internal APIs
What you bring
- At least five years of professional engineering experience
- A record of delivering consequential systems or products that reached production
- Strong problem-solving skills, sound engineering judgment and the ability to learn quickly
Who this fits
This role suits engineers who want end-to-end ownership and close contact with product, design, client and AI teams. The work spans backend, platform and machine learning, and calls for delivering projects in a fast-moving environment. Mirage is hiring for senior or staff-level scope, and most roles require working in person at its New York City headquarters.
From the employer
Mirage is an AI video company focused on making creation dramatically easier. Our team tackles some of the hardest creative and technical challenges in generative media.
We get to rethink how people collaborate with AI that can actually do creative work with them—defining entirely new interaction paradigms for AI-native video tools. We make that possible by building multimodal agents that turn creative direction into edits, rendering engines that composite multiple layers of video and graphics, and generative video models trained from the ground up that create new media when needed.
All of this comes together in Captions, our creative workspace for generating, editing, and designing video. The technology behind Captions is now available more broadly: Tesseract gives any AI agent native video-editing capabilities, while developers can integrate our models into their own products through APIs.
Explore our work
Captions — Our flagship creative workspace
Tesseract — Our professional video engine for AI agents
Research — The foundation models we build in-house
Updates — The latest from Mirage
TechCrunch, Forbes, Fast Company — Press
Our Investors
We’re very fortunate to have some the best investors and entrepreneurs backing us, including Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Uncommon Projects, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, Lenny Rachitsky, Antoine Martin, Julie Zhuo, Ben Rubin, Jaren Glover, SVAngel, 20VC, Ludlow Ventures, Chapter One, and more.
Please note that most of our roles will require you to be in-person at our NYC HQ (located in Union Square)
About the role
Backend engineering at Mirage isn’t narrowly defined. We work across product, platform, and machine learning—building the systems, services, APIs, and ML pipelines that power all of our product surfaces.
You’ll own critical backend systems end-to-end, partnering closely with product, design, client, and AI teams to turn ambitious ideas into reliable, scalable production systems. This opportunity is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex technical problems while staying connected to product and user outcomes.
While we don’t use hierarchical titles or levels internally, we are currently hiring engineers who have operated at senior or staff+ scope.
Responsibilities
Design, build, and own backend systems end-to-end, including services, APIs, data pipelines, and infrastructure that power our products
Solve complex technical challenges across distributed systems, scaling, concurrency, and performance
Integrate and operate large generative AI models in production—deploying, serving, and scaling systems that combine internal research and external capabilities to unlock new product experiences.
Instrument, experiment, and iterate in production to continuously improve system and product quality
Design and operate core platform infrastructure, including integrations with third-party providers, storage systems, security, and internal APIs
What Makes You a Great Fit
5+ years of professional industry experience
A track record of shipping high‑impact systems and/or products in production
Exceptional problem solving fundamentals and ability to learn
Excellent engineering taste combined with a strong sense of practicality and time-management
Able to operate effectively in an extremely fast-paced environment as well as scope and deliver projects end-to-end
Even better if...
You have worked extensively with LLMs, generative media models, and have a pulse on where the technology is going
You are grounded, collaborative, and willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win
You have been a startup founder or an early engineer at one
Benefits:
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
401K with employer match
Commuter Benefits
Catered lunch multiple days per week
Dinner stipend every night if you're working late and want a bite!
Grubhub subscription
Health & Wellness Perks
Multiple team offsites per year with team events every month
Generous PTO policy
Captions provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Please note benefits apply to full time employees only.
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Backend Engineering$170k+
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