Job Url: https://builtin.com/job/staff-backend-software-engineer/8013635 Job Description: Winston Artory Group Staff Backend Software Engineer Job Posted 18 Days Ago Reposted 18 Days Ago 2 Locations In-Office or Remote Senior level Other • Sales Intelligent Collection Stewardship | Formerly Winston Art Group The Role Lead the backend architecture, mentoring engineers, and defining technical standards while building scalable systems for data processing and LLM integration. Summary Generated by Built In About Winston Artory Group WAG is transforming how art and collectibles are valued, managed, and traded. Born from the merger of Winston Art Group (the largest independent appraisal and advisory firm in the U.S.) and Artory (a pioneer in art tokenization), we combine deep industry expertise with technologies like AI and blockchain to modernize a $2.9 trillion global asset class. We're already generating significant revenue and recently raised our Series A from top-tier VCs. Now, we're building the next-generation platform to unlock liquidity, trust, and intelligence in the art market—and we're looking for exceptional engineers to help us do it. Why Join Us Meaningful equity and competitive compensation High-impact role at a growing company with revenue, funding, and a compelling vision Build at the intersection of art, fintech, AI, and blockchain A collaborative, pragmatic team that values speed, clarity, and technical quality Remote-flexible culture with an HQ in NYC Backed by top VCs and trusted by leading collectors, advisors, and institutions About the role Location US Remote (East Coast or Central time-zone required). For candidates in NY or Miami, an interview may be conducted in person. The Role We're hiring a Staff Backend Engineer to be the technical leader and architect of our backend systems. As one of the first engineering hires, you'll own the entire backend architecture—from foundational infrastructure and API design to AI-driven data pipelines and system scalability. This is a tech lead role: you'll set technical direction, mentor future backend hires, and establish the engineering culture and standards that will scale with the company. Reporting & Collaboration: You'll report directly to our Head of Engineering, a highly hands-on technical leader who you'll partner closely with on architecture decisions and technical strategy. Together, you'll co-own the backend vision—balancing immediate product needs with long-term scalability. Our Head of Engineering is deeply involved in code, design reviews, and technical discussions, so you'll have a close working relationship focused on building world-class systems. You'll also work closely with our CPO (Chief Product Officer) and company leadership to translate product vision into robust, scalable systems. This isn't just about writing code—it's about making architectural decisions, evaluating tradeoffs, and building systems that can evolve as we grow the engineering team. This is an AI-native environment. We move fast using tools like Cursor and Claude Code, build with LLM APIs from OpenAI and others, and actively leverage AI in our product and development workflows. If you're excited about being a technical leader who ships production software with AI as a core tool, you'll thrive here. What You'll Do Technical Leadership & Architecture: Own the entire backend architecture from day one—make the critical decisions on frameworks, databases, infrastructure, and patterns Define technical standards and best practices for code quality, testing, documentation, and deployment Lead system design for complex problems involving data ingestion, LLM orchestration, and real-time analytics Mentor and guide future backend engineers as the team grows (you'll likely hire and lead 2-3 backend engineers in your first year) Evaluate and adopt new technologies that improve velocity, reliability, or capabilities Hands-On Development: Build and scale core backend systems to ingest, clean, and serve structured data at scale Design clean, performant APIs to power our client portal, data tools, and internal services Integrate and orchestrate LLM APIs (e.g. OpenAI, Claude, open-source models) for use in appraisal automation, data extraction, and insight generation Architect event-driven systems and asynchronous pipelines (queues, pub/sub) for reliability and scale Own our infrastructure including CI/CD, observability, monitoring, and IaC (Terraform, AWS) Cross-Functional Collaboration: Co-own technical vision with Head of Engineering: collaborate daily on architecture, technical roadmap, and engineering standards Partner closely with CPO and product team to shape roadmap based on technical feasibility and effort Collaborate with data and frontend engineers to define APIs, contracts, and integration patterns Work with company leadership (Head of Engineering, CPO, President) on technical strategy, hiring, and long-term platform vision Communicate technical decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders You Might Be a Fit If You Required: Education: B.S. in Computer Science or equivalent Experience: 7+ years of backend engineering experience with at least 2+ years in a technical lead, staff, or principal role at a high-growth startup or product company Leadership: Proven track record of mentoring engineers, leading technical initiatives, and making architectural decisions that scale Technical Skills: Expert in Python with deep understanding of performance, concurrency, and design patterns Strong database expertise (PostgreSQL or similar) including query optimization, schema design, and data modeling Hands-on experience with LLM/AI integration in production systems—you've shipped features using OpenAI, Anthropic, or open-source models Deep knowledge of distributed systems including event-driven architectures, message queues, and async patterns (Celery, Kafka, SQS, etc.) Production experience with AWS (or GCP/Azure) including compute, storage, networking, and managed services Strong DevOps fundamentals: Docker, Kubernetes/ECS, Terraform, CI/CD, monitoring/observability Data engineering fluency: ETL/ELT patterns, data lakes vs. warehouses, pipeline orchestration Mindset: You balance pragmatism with technical excellence—you know when to move fast and when to invest in infrastructure You have a bias toward simplicity and can articulate tradeoffs clearly You're excited about AI tooling and actively use tools like Cursor, Claude, or Copilot to increase velocity You thrive in ambiguity and can chart technical direction with incomplete information Preferred: Experience building 0→1 products at early-stage startups (seed through Series B) Prior tech lead or staff engineer experience at a Series A+ company Experience with ML/AI model deployment and managing inference costs/latency Familiarity with data warehousing (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift) and analytics tools Domain knowledge in art, collectibles, fintech, or fragmented asset classes Experience hiring and building teams (you'll be involved in hiring future backend engineers) Ability to occasionally travel to our NYC office We offer great benefits, including: A Welcoming Team A friendly, international, agile team that works together with cutting-edge technologies Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick days, and holidays Paid parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption, leave) Paid volunteer days to encourage community involvement Collaborative, innovative, and inclusive company culture Employee recognition and appreciation programs Team-building activities and social events Transparent communication and feedback channels Competitive Compensation Competitive salary based on experience and skills Discretionary performance-based bonuses Equity option grants of company shares, offering alignment with company success Health, Wellness, and Benefits Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) with employees covered 100% On-site in our NY HQ fitness center and sauna Generous leave policies, including bereavement and reproductive loss leave Opportunities for continuous learning and training Mentorship programs and leadership development initiatives 401(k) Life insurance and disability coverage Snacks in the office Top Skills AWS Ci/Cd Docker Kubernetes Llm Apis Openai Postgres Python Terraform View all jobs at Winston Artory Group View Winston Artory Group Profile Report Job Am I A Good Fit? beta B.S. in Computer Science or equivalent 7+ years of backend engineering experience Expert in Python Strong database expertise (PostgreSQL or similar) Production experience with AWS (or GCP/Azure) Strong DevOps fundamentals: Docker, Kubernetes/ECS Hands-on experience with LLM/AI integration in production systems Deep knowledge of distributed systems including event-driven architectures Data engineering fluency: ETL/ELT patterns 2+ years in a technical lead, staff, or principal role ANALYSIS BASED ON YOUR RESUME: Dylan_Williams-Applied Software Engineer II-Civis Analytics.docx To select or upload a new resume, visit edit profile. The Company HQ: New York, NY 63 Employees Year Founded: 2010 What We Do Winston Artory Group is the nation's leading independent art appraisal and art advisory firm, with offices in NY, MA, DC, NC, FL, TX, CO, CA, as well as representation in three locations overseas. Independent of any auction house or dealer, Winston Artory Group specializes in confidential and objective appraisal services, advice on the acquisition and disposal of all fine and decorative art, jewelry, and collectibles, and collection management. APPRAISALS Winston Artory Group specializes in providing appraisals for all purposes, including insurance, estate tax and estate planning, donation, damage or loss, art as collateral, and family division. ADVISORY Whether you wish to acquire an individual work or build an entire collection, Winston Artory Group will help you articulate your vision and guide you through the process. If you wish to sell works in your collection, Winston Artory Group is uniquely positioned to impartially advise you on every step of the sales process. COLLECTION MANAGEMENT Winston Artory Group will also introduce you to a wide range of highly specialized services, individually tailored to help you best maintain and manage your collection, including: collection management software, annual inspections and condition reports, curatorial advice, coordination and oversight of conservation, restoration, installation, shipping, storage, and professional photography, and comprehensive supervision of museum exhibition loans. 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