Senior Backend Engineer, AI Sim

SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders.

At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact.

SandboxAQ is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to contribute to our drug discovery and chemistry simulation platform. You’ll work in a fast-moving software development team that explores new technologies and solves problems across an entire software stack, working closely with researchers and the product team to gather and prioritize feedback.

The AI Simulation Team are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our team. This role is central to our efforts to build a platform that powers our R&D in life sciences and chemistry simulation by contributing to core functionalities, APIs, and data and control planes. This person will contribute to build, testing, and deployment pipelines for a complex set of build artifacts and IaC-managed infrastructure while writing high-quality, readable, well-tested code. This role is ideal for an entrepreneurial and customer-obsessed engineer who enjoys exposure to a wide variety of areas including core application development, DevOps, and direct user impact where you immediately see the results of your work.

• Develop Core Platform Functionalities: Contribute to the design and development of SandboxAQ’s chemistry and life sciences simulation platform, including APIs, data planes, and control planes.

• Collaborate with Product & Research: Work closely with the product team and researchers to gather feedback, measure the impact of developed code on users, and iterate on software solutions.

• Build & Manage Infrastructure: In collaboration with the engineering team, build and manage infrastructure for our simulation and data platforms using IaC and cloud orchestration.

• Drive Engineering Excellence: Participate in planning, design, and sprint ceremonies; review code and lead architectural discussions to ensure software design principles are met.

• Embed with R&D Teams: Work closely with internal scientific stakeholders to assist in delivering project goals and drive the adoption of modern engineering practices and tooling.

• 3+ years of experience with Python, including deep knowledge of software design principles and architectural patterns.

• API & Database Fundamentals: Experience building REST APIs (best practices) and knowledge of database systems (ORMs, schemas, transactional vs. analytic systems).

• Cloud & Orchestration: Experience with at least one major cloud provider (GCP preferred) and knowledge of cloud orchestration (K8s, batch-type systems) or workflow management (Airflow or similar).

• DevOps & IaC: Proficiency with Terraform (or other IaC), GitOps, and building robust CI/CD pipelines.

• Soft Skills: Excellent communication and collaboration skills with an entrepreneurial, customer-obsessed mindset and the ability to influence cross-functional teams.

• Domain Expertise: Experience in advanced materials, drug discovery, or cheminformatics, especially involving AI systems.

• Scientific Computing: Experience delivering scientific code for R&D projects, specifically in simulation and numerical optimization domains.

• High-Performance Computing: Exposure to HPC systems, GPU programming, and optimization.

• AI Applications: Knowledge of AI agents, knowledge graphs, and multi-agent systems.

• Code Quality: A proven track record of writing clean, readable, well-tested, and maintainable code in a fast-moving environment.

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support your health, financial well-being, and life outside of work.

• Compensation: Competitive base salary, performance-based incentives or bonuses (where applicable), and equity participation.

• Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents with generous employer premium contributions, retirement savings with company matching, paid parental leave, and inclusive family-building benefits.

• Work-Life Balance: Flexible paid time off, company-wide seasonal breaks, and support for flexible work arrangements that enable sustainable performance.

• Career Development: Opportunities for continuous learning and growth through on-the-job development, cross-functional collaboration, and access to internal learning and development programs.

We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging and respect, where diverse perspectives are actively sought and valued. Our multidisciplinary environment provides ample opportunity for continuous growth - working alongside humble, empowered, and ambitious colleagues ready to tackle epic challenges.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status.

Accommodations: We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in job application procedures for open roles. If you need such an accommodation, please let a member of our Recruiting team know.

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