Job Title: Staff Backend Software Engineer

Company Name: Winston Artory Group

Job Details: 2,Locations,In-Office,or,Remote,Senior,level

Job Url: https://builtin.com/job/staff-backend-software-engineer/8013635

Job Description: About Winston Artory GroupWAG 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 UsMeaningful equity and competitive compensationHigh-impact role at a growing company with revenue, funding, and a compelling visionBuild at the intersection of art, fintech, AI, and blockchainA collaborative, pragmatic team that values speed, clarity, and technical qualityRemote-flexible culture with an HQ in NYCBacked by top VCs and trusted by leading collectors, advisors, and institutionsAbout the roleLocationUS Remote (East Coast or Central time-zone required).For candidates in NY or Miami, an interview may be conducted in person.The RoleWe'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 DoTechnical Leadership & Architecture:Own the entire backend architecture from day one—make the critical decisions on frameworks, databases, infrastructure, and patternsDefine technical standards and best practices for code quality, testing, documentation, and deploymentLead system design for complex problems involving data ingestion, LLM orchestration, and real-time analyticsMentor 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 capabilitiesHands-On Development:Build and scale core backend systems to ingest, clean, and serve structured data at scaleDesign clean, performant APIs to power our client portal, data tools, and internal servicesIntegrate and orchestrate LLM APIs (e.g. OpenAI, Claude, open-source models) for use in appraisal automation, data extraction, and insight generationArchitect event-driven systems and asynchronous pipelines (queues, pub/sub) for reliability and scaleOwn 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 standardsPartner closely with CPO and product team to shape roadmap based on technical feasibility and effortCollaborate with data and frontend engineers to define APIs, contracts, and integration patternsWork with company leadership (Head of Engineering, CPO, President) on technical strategy, hiring, and long-term platform visionCommunicate technical decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholdersYou Might Be a Fit If YouRequired:Education: B.S. in Computer Science or equivalentExperience: 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 companyLeadership: Proven track record of mentoring engineers, leading technical initiatives, and making architectural decisions that scaleTechnical Skills:Expert in Python with deep understanding of performance, concurrency, and design patternsStrong database expertise (PostgreSQL or similar) including query optimization, schema design, and data modelingHands-on experience with LLM/AI integration in production systems—you've shipped features using OpenAI, Anthropic, or open-source modelsDeep 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 servicesStrong DevOps fundamentals: Docker, Kubernetes/ECS, Terraform, CI/CD, monitoring/observabilityData engineering fluency: ETL/ELT patterns, data lakes vs. warehouses, pipeline orchestrationMindset:You balance pragmatism with technical excellence—you know when to move fast and when to invest in infrastructureYou have a bias toward simplicity and can articulate tradeoffs clearlyYou're excited about AI tooling and actively use tools like Cursor, Claude, or Copilot to increase velocityYou thrive in ambiguity and can chart technical direction with incomplete informationPreferred:Experience building 0→1 products at early-stage startups (seed through Series B)Prior tech lead or staff engineer experience at a Series A+ companyExperience with ML/AI model deployment and managing inference costs/latencyFamiliarity with data warehousing (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift) and analytics toolsDomain knowledge in art, collectibles, fintech, or fragmented asset classesExperience hiring and building teams (you'll be involved in hiring future backend engineers)Ability to occasionally travel to our NYC officeWe offer great benefits, including:A Welcoming TeamA friendly, international, agile team that works together with cutting-edge technologiesGenerous paid time off, including vacation, sick days, and holidaysPaid parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption, leave)Paid volunteer days to encourage community involvementCollaborative, innovative, and inclusive company cultureEmployee recognition and appreciation programsTeam-building activities and social eventsTransparent communication and feedback channelsCompetitive CompensationCompetitive salary based on experience and skillsDiscretionary performance-based bonusesEquity option grants of company shares, offering alignment with company successHealth, Wellness, and BenefitsComprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) with employees covered 100%On-site in our NY HQ fitness center and saunaGenerous leave policies, including bereavement and reproductive loss leaveOpportunities for continuous learning and trainingMentorship programs and leadership development initiatives401(k)Life insurance and disability coverageSnacks in the office