Otter. ai

Tech / AI / Software

StaffSoftwareEngineer,Backend(Product)

$210–275k mountain view, california, united states Remote Friendly
Market Sentiment
HIGH DEMAND

Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Lead candidates.

The Brief

“Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Product) at Otter. ai. Skills: Staff Software Engineer, Backend, Product, AI-native product experiences, scalable systems, cohesive product experiences, full lifecycle of AI-driven features, data ingestion, model orchestration, output structuring, delivery into user-facing product surfaces, systems level, architecture behind generation pipelines, AI outputs are structured and persisted, reliable, performant, and adaptable systems, technical direction across prod”

Industry & Context.

Tech / AI / Software
Problems you'll solve

defining both the problem and the solution; Translate ambiguity into scalable systems and product direction; Take loosely defined opportunities and turn them into clear technical approaches and execution plans

What They're Looking For.

Must Have

10+ years of experience building and scaling complex systems, track record of owning technical and product direction for large or ambiguous problem spaces, deep expertise in system design, especially in data-intensive or distributed systems, experience leading cross-team initiatives and influencing without direct authority, product intuition and can balance user experience, system constraints, and business impact, comfortable operating at a high level of ambiguity and defining both the problem and the solution

Nice to Have

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

What You'll Do.

Define system architecture for AI-native product surfaces

Design foundational systems (generation pipelines

evaluation frameworks) that power multiple product areas

Drive cross-team technical strategy

Lead initiatives that product

and infrastructure teams

ensuring alignment on architecture and execution

Establish best practices for AI product engineering

Set standards for how we build with AI—covering areas like evaluation

Translate ambiguity into scalable systems and product direction

Take loosely defined opportunities and turn them into clear technical approaches and execution plans

Raise the bar across the organization

Influence engineering quality

and product thinking beyond your immediate team

Shape how AI accelerates engineering velocity

Drive adoption and best practices for AI-assisted development

improving how teams design

and iterate on product

How You'll Work.

Team & Collaboration

aligning product, AI, and infrastructure teams; partner closely with product, design, and AI teams; influence engineering quality, system design, and product thinking beyond your immediate team

Process & Methodology

execution plans

Full Job Description

The Opportunity We’re building the next generation of AI-native product experiences, where conversations turn directly into outcomes. As a Staff Software Engineer on our Product teams, you’ll define how these capabilities are translated into scalable systems and cohesive product experiences. You’ll operate across the full lifecycle of AI-driven features—from data ingestion and model orchestration to output structuring and delivery into user-facing product surfaces—but at a systems level. This includes shaping the architecture behind generation pipelines, defining how AI outputs are structured and persisted, and ensuring these systems are reliable, performant, and adaptable as both product requirements and underlying models evolve. This role goes beyond individual features. You’ll drive technical direction across product areas, aligning product, AI, and infrastructure teams on how to build AI-native systems that scale. You’ll help define patterns for how we evaluate, iterate on, and continuously improve AI-driven experiences, turning ambiguous opportunities into clear systems and execution plans. You’ll partner closely with product, design, and AI teams to identify high-leverage opportunities, prototype new approaches, and guide them into production—shaping both the product experience and the underlying systems that power it. Your Impact Define system architecture for AI-native product surfaces Design foundational systems (generation pipelines, data models, evaluation frameworks) that power multiple product areas. Drive cross-team technical strategy Lead initiatives that span product, AI, and infrastructure teams, ensuring alignment on architecture and execution. Establish best practices for AI product engineering Set standards for how we build with AI—covering areas like evaluation, reliability, iteration loops, and system design. Translate ambiguity into scalable systems and product direction Take loosely defined opportunities and turn them into clear technical app

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