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zaimler

Founding Backend Engineer at zaimler

zaimler San Mateo, California
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Job Description

Job Description

Job Description
About zaimler

zaimler is building the semantic platform that links fragmented enterprise data and extracts meaning with knowledge-distilled models. We’re creating the foundation for AI systems that don’t just generate, but retrieve, link, and reason over enterprise knowledge.

In just over a year, we’ve begun partnering with Fortune 500 design partners in insurance, travel, and technology, deploying semantic AI infrastructure into some of the world’s most complex data ecosystems. Our platform enables enterprises to make data AI-ready from the start: automating ontology creation, data mapping, and retrieval-augmented reasoning at scale.

Our team comes from LinkedIn, Visa, Meta, and Branch, and has spent decades solving data and infrastructure challenges at scale. Backed by top VCs, we’re building the next foundational layer for enterprise AI.

About the role

We are seeking a Backend Engineer with deep experience in microservices architecture to join our team. The ideal candidate will have expertise in building and operating distributed backend systems using technologies like Java, Ray, PostGres, and Kubernetes. In this role, you’ll be critical in designing, implementing, and scaling the core microservices that power our AI and data platform.

You’ll help define service boundaries, build robust APIs, and ensure reliable communication across our ingestion, extraction, and knowledge graph systems. We're looking for someone who brings strong backend engineering fundamentals and a track record of delivering production-grade systems in fast-moving environments.
What you’ll do
  • Design and implement core microservices that handle document ingestion, entity extraction, and graph construction
  • Define and enforce clean service interfaces and communication protocols (e.g., gRPC, REST)
  • Drive schema design and service ownership in a polyglot environment (Java + Rust)
  • Contribute to deployment and runtime infrastructure (Helm, Kubernetes, vLLM, Ray)
  • Build internal tooling and APIs that accelerate downstream teams working on retrieval and ranking
  • Help scale systems as we ingest more enterprise data and expand graph resolution logic
You’ll thrive in this role if you
  • Have 4+ years of experience building backend services in modern cloud environments
  • Are fluent in at least one strongly typed language (Rust, Java, etc.) and comfortable in dynamic ones (Python)
  • Understand distributed systems, service discovery, and observability (we use OpenTelemetry + Grafana)
  • Have experience implementing secure APIs and backend systems, including RBAC, authentication, and authorization patterns
  • Have strong opinions on API boundaries, fault tolerance, and making systems boring (in a good way)
  • Enjoy taking vague problems and turning them into clean, testable services
  • Are comfortable working in a high-context, fast-moving startup environment with minimal overhead
Nice to have
  • Experience working with knowledge graphs, embeddings, or semantic search
  • Familiarity with vLLM, Ray, or distributed compute runtimes
  • Background in data-intensive systems or working with unstructured inputs
  • Exposure to entity resolution, NER, or schema linking systems
Why Join
  • A rare chance to be a founding engineer shaping both company and product direction.
  • Competitive salary, benefits, and meaningful equity.
  • Work alongside engineers and researchers from LinkedIn, Visa, Meta, and Branch.
  • Onsite culture in San Mateo, designed for deep collaboration and high-velocity building.
  • Full benefits package (Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k).
  • We sponsor H-1B visas and assist with immigration processes.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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