Senior Backend Software Engineer

Unlearn exists to transform clinical development by making every trial smarter. We harness data, AI, and digital twins to enable faster, more robust studies that bring life-saving treatments to patients faster. This mission drives everything we do as we partner with biopharmaceutical companies to redesign how clinical trials are planned, run, and analyzed.

We are defining the future of clinical development with unmatched scientific credibility, replacing uncertainty with AI-powered precision so decisions are clearer and trials are stronger. We don’t just disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, we create lasting change.

We believe AI will define the future of medicine, and we are committed to building that future responsibly, rigorously, and in close collaboration with our partners in clinical development.

We come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from machine learning to marketing—but regardless of where we come from, Unlearners share some common traits:

• Unlearners are ambitious; we aren’t intimidated by big, challenging goals.

• Unlearners are disciplined experimenters; we break down our big goals into smaller chunks and meet as often as necessary to track our velocity and iterate quickly.

• Unlearners are gritty; we never give up, setbacks just make us try harder.

• Unlearners are receptive to new ideas; in fact, we hate being stuck with the status quo

• Unlearners are storytellers; sharing information with each other and with the world is super important, too important to be boring. And, last but not least,

• Unlearners are team-oriented; we put the mission first, the company second, the team third, and individuals last.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Unlearn was founded in 2017 by a team of world-class machine learning scientists. We have raised venture capital from top tier investors such as Altimeter, Insight Partners, Radical Ventures, 8VC, DCVC, and DCVC Bio, and completed our $50 million Series C in January 2024.

If our purpose and culture resonate with you, we invite you to apply.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior Backend Software Engineer to play a hands-on role in building and optimizing backend systems for our applications while also contributing to infrastructure for ML model training and production. This role requires strong expertise in backend development, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure. The ideal candidate will work closely with ML engineers, data scientists, and product teams to ensure scalable, efficient, and high-performance systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Backend Development: Design, develop, and maintain scalable, high-performance platforms including services and APIs.

• System & Infrastructure Contributions: Build and optimize infrastructure for ML model training and production, ensuring reliability and efficiency.

• Database & Storage Optimization: Design and maintain efficient data pipelines, databases, and storage solutions for high-throughput applications.

• Scalability & Performance Tuning: Ensure backend services are highly available, resilient, and performant, handling large-scale data workloads.

• Collaboration: Work closely with ML engineers, data scientists, and DevOps teams to integrate models into production and enhance system architecture.

• Security & Reliability: Implement best practices for security, monitoring, and fault tolerance to maintain system integrity.

• Code Quality & Best Practices: Write clean, maintainable, and testable code, adhering to industry best practices.

• Continuous Improvement: Evaluate and adopt new technologies and architectures to improve backend and ML system performance.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of backend software engineering experience, with expertise in designing and building scalable, distributed systems.

• Strong proficiency in Python (or other backend languages such as Go, Java, or Rust).

• Deep experience with databases (SQL, NoSQL), API design (REST, GraphQL), and message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ).

• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

• Familiarity with ML model deployment workflows and experience integrating models into production environments.

• Strong knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps practices, and infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible, or similar).

• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to optimize system performance and reliability.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills in cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with big data processing frameworks (Spark, Flink, etc.).

• Knowledge of real-time data pipelines and event-driven architectures.

• Familiarity with security best practices in backend systems and infrastructure.

• Prior experience in high-growth startups or ML-driven applications.

The following benefits and perks are for full time roles only.

• Generous equity participation

• 100% company-covered medical, dental, & vision insurance plans

• 401k plan with matching

• Flexible PTO plus company holidays

• Annual company-wide break December 24 through January 1

• Commuter benefits

• Paid Parental Leave

Unlearn is an equal opportunity employer. 

At Unlearn, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, because inclusion and diversity are essential to achieving our mission. If you’re excited about this role, and your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.