Staff Backend Software Engineer - API Platform

PerplexitySan Francisco, California

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Overview

Schedule

Full-time

Career level

Senior-level

Job Description

Perplexity is redefining how people search, reason, and interact with information. Our API team sits at the core of this vision, designing and operating the high-performance interfaces that expose Perplexity’s intelligence to developers, enterprises, and products worldwide. This team owns the architecture, reliability, and security of the APIs that power everything from real-time LLM queries to enterprise-scale integrations.

As a Staff Backend Engineer, you will shape the technical foundation of Perplexity’s external platform. You’ll architect distributed systems, optimize performance at scale, and set engineering standards that ensure our APIs are fast, resilient, and a delight to build on.

Key Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate mission-critical APIs in Python, Go, or Rust optimized for low latency, high throughput, and strong consistency.
Lead major technical initiatives, from new platform components to multi-team system redesigns.
Improve system reliability and security by implementing rate limiting, authentication, observability (metrics, tracing, logging), and automated testing.
Collaborate across teams to determine when to extend existing systems versus build new, specialized services.
Translate customer needs into scalable platform capabilities and generalized API features.
Uphold engineering excellence through design reviews, code quality, and internal documentation.

Qualifications

5+ years of backend engineering experience with Python, Go, or Rust.
Strong understanding of high-traffic API design: versioning, schema evolution, idempotency, auth patterns, and performance tuning.
Hands-on experience running AWS services, plus fluency with Kubernetes, CI/CD, and modern DevOps practices.
Experience with LLM or natural-language APIs (latency tuning, streaming, model orchestration) is a strong plus.
Strong customer empathy and product sense, ensuring the APIs you build are ergonomic, well-documented, and easy to adopt.

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FAQs About Staff Backend Software Engineer - API Platform Jobs at Perplexity

What is the work location for this position at Perplexity?

This job at Perplexity is located in San Francisco, California, according to the details provided by the employer. Some roles may also include multiple work locations depending on the requirement.

What pay range can candidates expect for this role at Perplexity?

Employer has not shared pay details for this role.

What employment applies to this position at Perplexity?

Perplexity lists this role as a Full-time position.

What experience level is required for this role at Perplexity?

Perplexity is looking for a candidate with "Senior-level" experience level.

What is the process to apply for this position at Perplexity?

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