Software Engineer - Backend Systems

Luma AI is dedicated to building multimodal AI to expand human imagination and capabilities, believing vision is critical for the next generation of intelligent systems. They are seeking versatile, product-minded Backend Engineers to develop the "Product Engine" that powers Luma’s generative AI. This role involves architecting robust application layers, APIs, and core infrastructure to make their foundational models accessible, reliable, and magical for users, focusing on real-time intelligence and user experience.

Must Have

• Architect and build low-latency distributed systems and high-traffic client-facing APIs.
• Take ownership of AI agent infrastructure, including persistent state and execution layers.
• Collaborate with research and inference teams to expose SOTA model capabilities, optimizing for latency and availability.
• Build and scale core business logic, including authentication, transactional billing, and real-time user state management.
• Partner with product, design, and research to translate user needs into elegant backend solutions.
• Care about User Experience (latency, polish, reliability).
• Have 8+ years of experience shipping impactful, user-focused products.
• Strong proficiency in a backend language like Python or Go.
• Understand production orchestration and how to debug a crashing service in Kubernetes.
• Possess a strong understanding of security, authentication, and best practices for public-facing APIs.
• Be an adaptable generalist who thrives in ambiguity.

Good to Have

• Experience building or deploying AI agentic systems, co-pilot style features, or complex LLM-powered workflows.
• Background building backend systems for creative tools or media-rich apps (video, images, audio).
• Exposure to or experience with frontend development (TypeScript, React).

About Luma AI

Luma's mission is to build multimodal AI to expand human imagination and capabilities. We believe that multimodality is critical for intelligence. To go beyond language models and build more aware, capable, and useful systems, the next step function change will come from vision. So, we are working on training and scaling up multimodal foundation models for systems that can see and understand, show and explain, and eventually interact with our world to effect change.

Where You Come In

We are looking for versatile and product-minded Backend Engineers to build the Product Engine that powers Luma’s generative AI. You will bridge the gap between our Foundational Models and our users, architecting the robust application layer that makes our intelligence accessible, reliable, and magical.

This is a product engineering role focused on core infrastructure, APIs and user experience, not a data engineering role focused on offline batch processing or training pipelines.

The ideal candidate is a proactive, adaptable builder who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment and demonstrates strong product instincts.

What You'll Do

• Architect the "Product Engine": Design and build low-latency distributed systems and high-traffic client-facing APIs that wrap our foundational models in a reliable product experience.
• Scale the Agent Stack: Take ownership of our AI agent infrastructure, building the persistent state and execution layers required for autonomous agentic workflows.
• Serve Intelligence Real-Time: Work with our applied research and model inference teams to expose SOTA model capabilities optimizing for latency (p99) and availability to ensure instant, magical feedback for users.
• Own Critical Business Systems: Build and scale the "nervous system" of Luma, managing the core business logic, including authentication, transactional billing, and real-time user state management.
• Collaborate for User Delight: Partner closely with product, design, and research teams to translate user needs into elegant backend solutions, ensuring the "feel" of the product is fast and responsive.

Who You Are

• A Product Systems Engineer: You care as much about the User Experience (latency, polish, reliability) as you do about the code.
• Experienced Builder: You have 8+ years of experience with a proven record of shipping impactful, user-focused products.
• Polyglot & Proficient: You have strong proficiency in a backend language like Python or Go, with a willingness to learn across the stack.
• Infrastructure-Aware: You don't just deploy containers; you understand production orchestration and how to debug a crashing service in Kubernetes.
• Security Minded: You possess a strong understanding of security, authentication, and best practices for designing public-facing APIs.
• Adaptable: You are a generalist who enjoys hopping from one challenge to the next and thrives in the face of ambiguity.

What Sets You Apart (Bonus Points)

• AI Agentic Systems: Experience building or deploying agentic systems, co-pilot style features, or other complex LLM-powered workflows.
• Media-Heavy Applications: A background building backend systems for creative tools or media-rich apps (video, images, audio).
• Full Stack Familiarity: Exposure to or experience with frontend development (TypeScript, React) enabling you to empathize with client-side challenges.