Otter.ai

Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Product)

Otter.ai$185K — $230K *
Consumer Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience in developing large-scale web services with AI systems exposure.
  • Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Science or related field.
  • Strong expertise in databases, distributed systems, and backend performance optimization.
  • Expert proficiency in Python; familiarity with Go, Java, or C++ is a plus.
  • Extensive experience with web frameworks like Django and various databases supporting AI.
  • Solid understanding of database internals, transactions, and schema design optimized for AI workloads.
  • Hands-on experience managing services on AWS, particularly those interfacing with machine learning.

Responsibilities

  • Leverage Python to build and enhance backend systems integrating with AI features.
  • Design robust business logic with web frameworks like Django to support AI integration.
  • Architect scalable solutions using Nginx, Kafka, and big data platforms for AI models.
  • Write efficient, maintainable code to support high-performance web services.
  • Collaborate with AI teams to streamline data pipelines and optimize model deployment.
  • Communicate technical strategies related to AI-enabled infrastructure across teams.
  • Develop scalable APIs and secure data exchange layers for enterprise integrations.

Benefits

  • Inclusive and diverse workplace environment.
  • Opportunity to work with cutting-edge AI technologies.
  • Chance to collaborate with cross-functional teams.
  • Work on impactful solutions from conception to deployment.
Full Job Description
The Opportunity

We're building the next generation of AI-native product experiences, where conversations turn directly into outcomes. As a Senior Software Engineer on our Product teams, you'll own significant areas of the product and play a key role in shaping how AI capabilities translate into real user value.

You'll work across the full lifecycle of AI-driven features-from data ingestion and model orchestration to output structuring and delivery into user-facing product surfaces. In this role, you'll not only build features, but also design the systems that power them-ensuring that AI outputs are reliable, performant, and aligned with real user needs.

You'll take on complex, ambiguous problems and drive them from concept to production, making thoughtful tradeoffs across latency, cost, and quality. This includes defining how LLMs, retrieval systems, and structured data come together to create cohesive product experiences.

Working closely with product, design, and AI teams, you'll rapidly prototype and iterate on features like summaries, action items, and intelligent workflows-while helping establish patterns and best practices that other engineers can build on.

You'll also play a key role in elevating the team: guiding technical decisions, mentoring engineers, and raising the bar for both product thinking and engineering quality.

Your Impact
  • Own end-to-end delivery of AI product features
    Lead the design and implementation of complex features-from initial concept through production-ensuring high quality and strong user impact.
  • Drive system design for AI-backed experiences
    Architect systems that orchestrate LLMs, retrieval, and structured data, making thoughtful tradeoffs between flexibility, reliability, and performance.
  • Elevate product quality through iteration and evaluation
    Establish and improve feedback loops (evaluation frameworks, user signals, experimentation) to systematically improve AI output quality.
  • Lead technical direction within a product area
    Break down ambiguous problems, define approaches, and guide execution across multiple engineers.
  • Mentor and raise the engineering bar
    Provide guidance on code quality, system design, and product thinking; help less experienced engineers operate more effectively in an AI-driven environment.
  • Accelerate team velocity through AI-assisted development
    Model effective use of modern AI tools to improve iteration speed, code quality, and overall team productivity.

We're looking for someone who
  • Has 5+ years of experience building and scaling product-facing systems, with a track record of owning complex features or product areas end-to-end
  • Writes clean, maintainable code (Python preferred) and makes strong architecture and design decisions across a modern web stack
  • Brings a high bar for product quality, not just system correctness - consistently asks whether what's being built actually serves users well
  • Has experience working with AI/LLM-powered systems, or can ramp quickly and contribute meaningfully to shaping their behavior in production
  • Drives projects from idea 12 production with strong ownership, and helps others do the same through mentorship and technical leadership
  • Thrives in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and can set technical direction, not just execute within it

Nice to haves
  • Experience building or experimenting with LLM-powered features (prompting, evaluation, RAG, etc.)
  • Experience designing systems that balance latency, cost, and quality
  • Exposure to user feedback loops, experimentation, or evaluation frameworks

Salary range

Salary Range: $185,000 to $230,000 USD per year.

This salary range represents the low and high end of the estimated salary range for this position. The actual base salary offered for the role is dependent on several factors. Our base salary is just one component of a comprehensive total rewards package.

#LI-Hybrid

About Otter.ai

Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription service that uses machine learning algorithms to transcribe audio and video recordings. The platform is used by businesses, journalists, and other professionals to transcribe interviews, meetings, and other recordings. Otter.ai's platform is designed to be easy to use and offers a range of features, including real-time transcription and collaboration tools.
Learn more about Otter.ai
Size
100 employees
Industry

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