Software Engineer, Backend

San Francisco · Engineering · Full-time

About Unit

Unit is an AI video company. We're building GTV, a platform that combines creativity and automation to deliver next-generation video content. Our team includes senior people from Instagram, TikTok, and NVIDIA. We're based in San Francisco and backed by Khosla Ventures, Air Street Capital, and leaders in AI.

Role Overview

We're looking for an experienced Backend Software Engineer to join the GTV team. You'll work closely with researchers, engineers, and designers to build our core systems, including video generation workflows, reinforcement learning infrastructure, real-time data pipelines, and more. This role is for someone who loves building high-performance systems and wants to reimagine the future of media.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable backend systems that power the creative engine behind GTV
• Partner with researchers, engineers, and designers to develop new product features and APIs
• Build core infrastructure for custom models, agentic workflows, and reinforcement learning loops
• Drive reliability and efficiency of distributed systems with automated testing, performance benchmarking, and end-to-end observability

Requirements

• 3+ years of software engineering experience with proficiency in Python
• Industry experience with AWS (S3, Lambda, RDS, SQS, ECS), FastAPI, Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and other backend services
• Deep understanding of generative models, distributed systems, information retrieval, large-scale data processing, and asynchronous workflows
• Proven ability to debug complex systems, navigate ambiguity, and take ownership
• Excellent communication and collaboration with research, engineering, and design teams

Nice to Have

• Prior work experience at early-stage or high-growth startups
• Familiarity with video generation, encoding, playback, and distribution
• Background in generative AI and consumer-facing products

Compensation

• $175K–$250K base salary
• Competitive equity grant
• Top-tier benefits (medical, dental, and vision)
• Daily dinner stipend
• Relocation support