Backend Engineer

Lightning AI runs one of the largest AI-native clouds, with 25,000+ GPUs powering organizations building, training, and deploying AI at scale. The Managed Services team builds the systems that make complex GPU infrastructure simple, reliable, and easy for customers to use without managing the underlying infrastructure themselves. As a Senior Backend Engineer on the Managed Services team, you'll build the control planes, backend services, and automation that provision, operate, and scale Kubernetes and Slurm clusters across our GPU fleet. Your work will turn raw GPU capacity into production-ready environments where customers can seamlessly train models, run inference, and deploy AI workloads. This isn't a traditional SaaS backend role. You'll solve distributed systems and cloud infrastructure problems, building the automation and platform capabilities that keep large-scale Kubernetes and Slurm environments scalable, observable, and resilient. This role is based in one of our U.S. office hubs (San Francisco, NYC, or Seattle, with SF and NYC preferred), with a minimum of 2 in-office days per week and occasional team and company offsites. We are not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position at this time. What You’ll Do Design, build, and operate backend services in Go or Python that power Lightning AI's managed infrastructure platform. Develop control plane services that provision, orchestrate, and manage Kubernetes and Slurm clusters across large-scale GPU infrastructure. Build distributed systems that automate cluster lifecycle management, workload scheduling, infrastructure provisioning, and platform operations.. Develop platform capabilities using Kubernetes APIs, controllers, operators, and other cloud-native technologies. Improve the reliability, scalability, security, and observability of our managed platform through automation and operational excellence. Diagnose and resolve complex production issues across Kubernetes, distributed systems, networking, and cloud infrastructure. Collaborate with infrastructure, AI, and platform engineering teams to shape the future of our cloud platform. Contribute to technical design, architecture, mentoring, engineering best practices, and on-call operations. What You’ll Need Required Qualifications Significant professional experience designing, building, and operating production backend systems using Go or Python. Deep hands-on experience with Kubernetes or Slurm, including operating large-scale production environments. Strong understanding of distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, and production infrastructure. Experience designing and building scalable backend services, APIs, and automation for infrastructure or platform operations. Strong understanding of networking, storage, and cloud infrastructure fundamentals. Familiarity with observability, CI/CD, testing, production operations, and incident response. Ability to own complex technical projects while collaborating effectively across engineering teams. Ideal Experience Experience with one or more of the following: Kubernetes platform development, including operators, controllers, CRDs, or control plane components Slurm administration, scheduling, or HPC environments Infrastructure-as-Code or GitOps tooling such as Terraform, Crossplane, Helm, Argo CD, Flux, or Kustomize GPU infrastructure, AI platforms, or large-scale compute environments Kubernetes networking, storage, or multi-tenant platform architecture Event-driven systems, gRPC, or distributed messaging Building CI/CD systems for production environments Contributions to cloud-native or open source infrastructure projects Compensation We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits. The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is: $180,000 - $250,000 USD Benefits and Perks We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success: Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents. Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success. Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.). Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance. Company-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge. Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments. Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth. Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being. Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service. Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams. In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs. Benefits may vary by location, team, and role. At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.