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Lead Backend Engineer at Pavago. Job Title:. Lead Backend Engineer. Position Type:. Full-Time, Remote. Working Hours:. U.S. Business Hours. About the Role. We are hiring a Lead Backend Engineer to own the entire technical function of an early-stage SaaS platform. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will write production code daily while making architecture, infrastructure, and AI system decisions for a platform operating at scale.. You will be accountable for backend architecture, system reliability, AI pipelines, and guiding a small development team in a fast-moving startup environment.. Responsibilities. Backend Architecture & Engineering. Design, build, and maintain a .NET 8.0 / C# backend using Clean Architecture and DDD principles . Own the architecture and codebase across 14+ independently deployed microservices . Deliver new features, refactor existing systems, and resolve performance bottlenecks . AI Systems & LLM Orchestration. Design and operate production-grade AI pipelines across multiple LLM providers . Optimize prompts and workflows for batch processing, personalization, and segmentation at scale . Manage rate limits, failover strategies, and cost optimization across AI providers . Databases & Data Infrastructure. Manage MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB in production environments . Oversee bulk writes, caching strategies, event streams, and analytics pipelines . Ensure data consistency and performance across distributed services . Infrastructure, Reliability & Monitoring. Own Linux-based infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and service deployments . Implement centralized logging, monitoring, alerting, and uptime tracking . Proactively identify and mitigate reliability and scalability risks . API Integrations & System Resilience. Manage 25+ third-party API integrations used in production . Design retry, fallback, and graceful degradation strategies . Ensure system stability when external providers fail or degrade . Team Leadership & Engineering Standards. Lead and mentor a small engineering team through code reviews and architectural guidance . Set and enforce engineering standards, workflows, and best practices . Collaborate closely with the founder on product direction and technical strategy . What Makes You a Perfect Fit. You are a senior, hands-on engineer who enjoys owning systems end-to-end . You are comfortable being the most experienced technical person on the team . You balance fast execution with long-term architectural thinking . You take ownership of reliability, performance, and technical outcomes . You thrive in early-stage startup environments . Required Experience & Skills. Deep expertise in .NET 8.0, C#, ASP.NET Core, and Entity Framework Core . Experience with distributed systems and independently deployed services . Strong production experience with MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB . Hands-on DevOps experience with Linux servers and CI/CD pipelines . Experience managing large numbers of third-party API integrations . Proven experience building and operating AI/LLM systems at scale . Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools and workflows . Strong understanding of monitoring, observability, and incident prevention . Experience leading small engineering teams . Strong English communication skills . What Does a Typical Day Look Like ?. Write and review production backend code . Make architectural decisions across services, databases, and AI pipelines . Monitor system health and resolve reliability issues . Guide developers through code reviews and technical feedback . Collaborate with the founder on product and system evolution . In short: You own the technical foundation of the platform and ensure it scales reliably while enabling rapid product development.. Key Metrics for Success (KPIs). System uptime and service reliability . Backend and AI system performance improvements . AI cost efficiency and pipeline stability . Code quality and deployment reliability . Team execution and delivery quality . Interview Process. Initial Screening Call . Technical Interview with Pavago Recruiter . Client Interview . Offer & Onboarding. #LI-AG1. Company Location: Kenya.