TwelveLabs is hiring a Senior Backend Software Engineer for our Rodeo platform. You will build the server-side infrastructure for an agentic application layer, owning the critical transition from prototype to a production-ready, enterprise-scale platform.

What You'll Do

Design and build backend services for video processing workflows — including ingestion, transcoding, 4K export, metadata extraction, and timeline operations.
Architect scalable, high-availability systems to support enterprise-grade video workloads across cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, GCP).
Build and optimize APIs that power real-time and async frontend workflows, including streaming data delivery and long-running job orchestration.
Own performance and reliability for distributed video processing pipelines with low latency and high throughput requirements.
Collaborate closely with frontend engineers on API design, data models, and streaming strategies.
Integrate and run inference on computer vision models for tasks like video resizing, scene detection, automatic audio noise cleaning, and visual analysis.
Deploy and serve ML models on cloud-based or cloud-native platforms — evaluating build-vs-buy for model serving and SaaS alternatives.
Work with the research team to productionize model outputs into reliable, scalable backend services.
Build pipelines that bridge TwelveLabs’ foundation models with third-party CV models to power intelligent video workflows.

What We're Looking For

7+ years building production backend systems with a track record of designing scalable web services and APIs.
Experience with video-specific tools and frameworks (FFmpeg, AWS Media Services, transcoding pipelines).
Deep experience with service-oriented architecture, microservices, and distributed systems.
Strong proficiency in Python for backend services, model integration, and tooling.
Hands-on experience running inference on ML/CV models in production — engineering models into reliable services, not research.
Cloud-native development experience (AWS or GCP), including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and serverless patterns.
Comfort working across the stack and making pragmatic tradeoffs in a fast-moving product environment.

Nice to Have

Advanced API design skills (RESTful, streaming, async patterns).
Familiarity with model serving platforms (TorchServe, Triton, SageMaker endpoints, or similar).
Experience with MLOps practices — model deployment, monitoring, versioning.
Background in media, entertainment, or video streaming platforms.
Exposure to CI/CD pipelines and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana) for production systems.
Experience with AI-powered product features or agentic application architectures.

Technical Stack

Python
AWS, GCP
Docker, Kubernetes
FFmpeg, AWS Media Services

Team & Environment

You'll join a small, high-impact team working in an open and inclusive culture. You will collaborate closely with a mission-driven team on cutting-edge AI technology.