AI-Native Backend Engineer (AI, APIs & Agentic Systems)

AI-Native Backend Engineer (AI, APIs & Agentic Systems)

Department: IT Department

Reports To: IT Manager

Location: Kuala Lumpur (On-site)

About the Role

We are looking for an AI-Native Backend Engineer to build the core infrastructure powering our next-generation AI and agentic systems.

This is not a traditional backend role.

You will design and build the backend foundation for AI-driven products, agents, workflows, and SaaS systems—connecting APIs, data, models, tools, and retrieval systems into one scalable architecture.

If you are excited about AI engineering, backend systems, and building intelligent automation at scale, this role puts you at the center of it.

What You’ll Do

• Design and build AI-native backend systems (agent orchestration, tool calling, routing, memory, and workflow execution)
• Develop scalable backend services using Node.js, Python, PHP, JavaScript, and SQL
• Build and maintain APIs connecting SaaS modules, internal systems, external services, and AI model providers
• Implement AI capabilities including prompt management, retrieval systems, embeddings, memory control, and structured outputs
• Design agent workflows (planner, router, executor, verifier, fallback, escalation, human approval flows)
• Build reusable backend services for permissions, logging, evaluation, and workflow state tracking
• Handle data systems including databases, queues, async processing, and vector storage
• Optimize backend performance for high-volume APIs, background jobs, and AI inference workloads
• Ensure reliability, security, observability, and cost efficiency of AI systems
• Participate in full SDLC: architecture, development, testing, deployment, monitoring, and improvement
• Collaborate with Product, AI, FDE, and Support teams to deliver scalable AI solutions
• Identify risks in AI systems such as hallucinations, data leakage, latency, cost, and performance issues

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI, Data Science, or related field
• 2+ years experience in Backend Engineer / AI Engineer / API Engineer / Platform Engineer / Full Stack Engineer roles
• Strong backend development skills in Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, or Ruby
• Strong knowledge of SQL, database design, APIs, authentication, and system architecture
• Understanding of event-driven architecture, microservices, queues, and async processing
• Solid understanding of AI/agentic concepts:
  • Prompt engineering
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
  • Embeddings & vector databases
  • Tool calling & orchestration
  • Memory systems & structured outputs
  • Evaluation & guardrails
• Familiar with cloud platforms (AWS / Azure / GCP), Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, logging, monitoring
• Strong problem-solving skills with attention to AI reliability, scalability, and security
• Good communication skills to explain technical architecture clearly
• Able to manage multiple backend and AI system initiatives

Nice to Have

• Experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Claude, etc.) or local model deployment
• Experience with RAG systems, vector databases, MCP, or agent frameworks
• Exposure to AI product development or automation platforms
• Experience in production-scale backend systems or platform engineering

Why Join Us

You’ll be building AI-native systems from the ground up, not just adding AI to existing software.

This is a high-ownership role where you will shape:

• How AI agents behave
• How workflows are executed
• How data and tools are connected
• How reliable and scalable our AI systems are

Your work will directly power both internal operations and customer-facing AI products.

Career Growth Path

AI-Native Backend Engineer → Senior AI Backend Engineer → AI Backend Architect → AI Platform Lead → IT Manager