Instabase

AI Engineer

Instabase$230K — $315K *
Enterprise Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with a focus on mission-critical distributed systems.
  • 2+ years of experience with agent execution environments or LLM orchestrators.
  • Expert proficiency in Go and Python, with a strong understanding of concurrent programming and API design.
  • Experience with containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.
  • Familiarity with message brokers and caching infrastructure.

Responsibilities

  • Architect the Agent Harness for SuperApp's advanced planning and execution capabilities.
  • Design secure, isolated execution environments for agent-generated code.
  • Develop high-throughput APIs and integration frameworks for external service connectivity.
  • Create robust security systems to prevent prompt injection and ensure data isolation.
  • Optimize performance and context management for LLM use cases.
  • Draft technical design documents and guide engineering teams on the roadmap.
  • Mentor and support the skill development of mid-to-senior engineers.

Benefits

  • Flexible PTO for better work-life balance.
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
  • 401(k) plan with matching contributions.
  • Parental leave and fertility support benefits.
  • Mental health support with covered therapy sessions.
  • Wellness stipend for fitness-related expenses.
  • Lunch credits provided for in-office days.
Full Job Description
As a Staff AI Engineer on the Agent Harness team, you will design the foundation of this runtime execution environment, enabling SuperApp to act as a resilient, highly scalable, and ultra-secure agentic operating system for the enterprise.
Role Overview

We are seeking a visionary systems-minded AI engineer to lead the design, architecture, and development of the Agent Harness. In this role, you will bridge the gap between advanced foundation models (LLMs) and reliable, production-grade execution.

You will not just be "vibe coding" prompts ; you will build the actual state machine, execution sandbox, tool-calling middleware, and security containment layers that allow AI agents to safely execute code, search the web, manipulate files, and query databases in real-time. This is a high-leverage role requiring deep expertise in distributed backend systems, runtime isolation, and stateful agent choreography.
What You'll Do (Responsibilities)
  • Harness Architecture & State Management: Architect the next-generation execution runtime (Agent Harness) that drives SuperApp's planning, reasoning, memory retention, and tool-execution loops. Build reliable state machines capable of pausing, resuming, and versioning agent trajectories.
  • Secure Sandbox Execution: Design and scale highly secure, isolated, and ephemeral environments (using Docker, gVisor, WebAssembly, or microVMs) to execute agent-generated code safely without putting host infrastructure at risk.
  • Tool & Integration Frameworks: Build and maintain high-throughput APIs and integration layers (such as the Model Context Protocol - MCP) that connect SuperApp to external services, databases, web search utilities, and complex file processors.
  • Security & Guardrail Engineering: Engineer robust system-level guardrails to detect and mitigate prompt injection, defend against jailbreak attempts, and ensure strict compliance with system prompt instructions and data isolation boundaries.
  • Performance & Context Optimization: Implement advanced routing, context window pruning, and context caching strategies to optimize LLM token usage, minimize round-trip latencies, and drastically reduce the operational cost of complex agent loops.
  • Technical Strategy & Mentorship: Write comprehensive high-level design documents, align cross-functional engineering teams on the technical roadmap, and mentor senior and mid-level software engineers across the organization.
About You
  • Experience: Minimum 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven track record of designing, scaling, and operating mission-critical distributed systems.
  • Agentic AI Expertise:2+ years of production experience building or modifying agent execution environments, LLM orchestrators, or tool-calling frameworks (e.g., custom runtimes, LangChain, AutoGen, or similar systems).
  • Backend Mastery: Expert proficiency in Go and Python. You have a pragmatic, deep understanding of concurrent programming, microservices, gRPC, and highly scalable API design.
  • Runtime Isolation & Security: Strong experience with containerization and virtualization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and a solid grasp of sandboxing untrusted code execution.
  • Distributed Systems Fundamentals: Deep familiarity with message brokers (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ), caching infrastructure (Redis), and relational/non-relational database design.
  • Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, engineering, or equivalent practical systems engineering experience.
Nice to Have (Preferred)
  • Prior experience developing developer tools, SDKs, or extensible plug-in architectures.
  • Experience with frontend integration (React, TypeScript) to support human-in-the-loop debugging interfaces or agent visual builders.
  • Experience working in high-growth, fast-paced startup environments.

Compensation: The base salary range for this role is $230,00 to $315,000 + bonus, equity, and benefits. The actual pay may vary based on factors such as location, experience, and skills.

US Benefits:
  • Flexible PTO: Because life is better when you actually live it!
  • Comprehensive Coverage: Top-notch medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • 401(k) with Matching: We've got your back for a secure future.
  • Parental Leave & Fertility Benefits: Supporting you in growing your family, your way.
  • Therapy Sessions Covered: Mental health matters- 10 free sessions through Samata Health.
  • Wellness Stipend: For gym memberships, fitness tech, or whatever keeps you thriving.
  • Lunch on Us: Enjoy a lunch credit when you're in the office.

#Li-Hybrid

About Instabase

Instabase is a platform for building customizable business applications. The platform provides a suite of tools for data processing, automation, and analytics, enabling companies to streamline their workflows and improve productivity. Instabase's technology leverages machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision to automate repetitive tasks and extract insights from unstructured data. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Learn more about Instabase
Size
200 employees
Industry
Founded
2015

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