Staff Backend Engineer, Agent Infrastructure

The posting, as Airbyte wrote it

ABOUT AIRBYTE

We’re on a mission to make data available and actionable to everyone, everywhere. With 700+ connectors, our platform powers analytics and gives AI agents the business context they need to do real work. More than 25,000 companies, including 20% of the Fortune 500, rely on Airbyte to put their data to work.

We’re built on open source because we believe companies should have full control over their data. A community of 27K members helps shape what we build, and we’re backed by $181M from investors including Benchmark, Accel, Altimeter, Coatue, and Y Combinator.

Models keep getting better. What holds AI back is the data informing and shaping its decisions, and that's the layer we're building.

We’re just getting started. If you’re excited by big challenges, meaningful ownership, and the chance to help build what’s next, we’d love to meet you.

THE ROLE

Airbyte is incubating new product opportunities at the intersection of data, AI, and developer infrastructure. Our small team builds tooling and infrastructure for data practitioners and software engineers, leveraging Airbyte's foundation in enterprise connectivity.

This is not an ML research or prompt engineering role. We're looking for an experienced backend or platform engineer who has built complex production systems and has also worked hands-on with AI applications or infrastructure. You'll own technical explorations, build prototypes, and take promising ideas through to production.

We're still early. Some of our work extends existing products, while other projects begin as hypotheses that need validation. There's significant room to influence technical direction, challenge assumptions, and help shape what we build next.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Airbyte MCP: Build infrastructure that lets AI agents configure Airbyte, troubleshoot syncs, and access data directly from connected sources and warehouses. Design reliable, secure, and observable interfaces across the connector ecosystem.
• Semantic Search & Retrieval: Build and operate search infrastructure for high-quality retrieval over enterprise data. Improve relevance, latency, and reliability in production.
• Semantic Models: Develop systems for defining and maintaining semantic models over enterprise data. Help AI applications use consistent business definitions and produce answers that can be verified against underlying data.
• SaaS Sandbox: Build realistic, stateful replicas of SaaS systems for developing and testing agents. Reproduce API behavior, failures, and state changes so workflows can be evaluated without using production accounts.

EXPLORE NEW PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES

• Turn product hypotheses into focused technical experiments. Build prototypes that test feasibility and expose important constraints.
• Work directly with customers, Product, Design, and customer-facing teams to understand real-world problems and incorporate feedback into technical decisions.
• Evaluate competing technical approac

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aluation, and enterprise connectivity every time they build a new agent.

LOCATION

• Onsite 4 days/week in San Francisco, CA

WHY YOU'LL LOVE WORKING AT AIRBYTE

At Airbyte, we believe great work happens when people feel supported, trusted, and empowered to grow. Our market-leading Total Rewards package is designed to help you thrive professionally and personally. Our benefits and perks include:

• Flexible PTO with a culture that encourages at least 25 days off annually
• 16 weeks fully paid parental leave for all parents
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Professional development budget, conference sponsorship, and book reimbursement
• Commuter benefits and monthly internet reimbursement
• Breakfast and lunch in our San Francisco office
• A collaborative, in-person culture focused on learning, growth, and impact

If you find this role exciting, we encourage you to apply even if you think you don’t meet all of the requirements!

We are not accepting agency submissions or recruiting firm support for this role. Unsolicited resumes will not be considered.

Airbyte is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, veteran or military status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Airbyte is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. Please let us know if you need assistance or accommodations due to a disability.