Senior Backend Engineer -AI Agent

Athena () pairs world‑class leaders with elite executive assistants. It’s where some of the most powerful partnerships in the world get built.

Our clients are founders, executives, and leaders whose ambition exceeds their time. Athena is the first company to build a human‑in‑the‑loop executive support system, combining trained Executive Assistants with market‑leading AI to help them stay organized, follow through on priorities, and operate at their highest level.

Athena is one of the largest companies in this category, with 3,000+ clients and over $100M in annual run rate. Our clients include Uber, Shopify, and Goldman Sachs.

We are fully global, working across time zones and cultures. Joining Athena means creating something that fundamentally changes how people live and work and brings extraordinary achievement within reach.

We’re looking for people who take their work seriously and want to get better at it.

You should be thoughtful in how you approach problems, willing to take ownership, and able to follow through without constant direction. You ask questions when something doesn’t make sense, and you care about getting the details right.

You should be comfortable working with people who have high expectations and limited time. That means being clear, responsive, and reliable.

We’re also looking for people who are interested in how this role is changing. The way work gets done is in flux between people, systems, and AI. We want people who are curious about that and willing to adapt as technology evolves.

You don’t need to know everything on day one, but you should be able to learn quickly and apply what you learn.

The Senior Backend Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the backend systems that support our applications and services. This role requires a deep understanding of backend technologies, databases, scalable system architecture, and AI agentic systems. This engineer will play a key role in building Athena’s AI agentic systems and the engineering harnesses that support the system development, evaluation, reliability, and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate will have strong problem‑solving skills and experience working in a collaborative, agile environment.

• Design and Develop Backend Systems: Architect, code, and maintain backend infrastructure using modern technologies and best practices to ensure high performance, security, and scalability.
• Build AI Agentic Systems and Harnesses: Design and develop backend services, orchestration layers, and supporting engineering harnesses for AI agentic systems, including tooling for evaluation, testing, monitoring, and iterative improvement.
• Collaborate with Cross‑Functional Teams: Work closely with frontend developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to define requirements, design solutions, and deliver high‑quality software.
• Optimize and Improve Existing Systems: Continuously monitor and optimize backend performance. Identify bottlenecks and implement improvements to enhance efficiency, scalability, and the reliability of AI‑powered systems.
• Ensure Code Quality: Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code. Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to peers.
• Implement Security Best Practices: Ensure backend systems are secure and comply with industry standards and regulations.
• Mentor Junior Engineers: Provide guidance and mentorship to junior team members to help them grow their technical skills and career.

• Experience: 5+ years of experience in backend development, with a strong focus on building scalable and robust systems. Proficiency in languages such as Python or Node.js.
  Experience building AI‑powered products, agentic systems, or engineering tooling / harnesses is strongly preferred.
• Technical
  
  Skills:
  
  Deep understanding of databases (SQL and No
  
  SQL), RESTful APIs, microservices architecture, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
  Familiarity with LLM‑based systems, orchestration frameworks, evaluation pipelines, or related AI infrastructure is a plus.
• Problem‑Solving: Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills to identify…