Senior SWE, Backend

Senior SWE, Backend Highlight Software Engineering San Francisco, CA, USA

• New York, NY, USA Posted on Jan 14, 2026 Apply now Location New York City office, San Francisco office Employment Type Full time

Location Type On-site Department Engineering Job Title:

Senior Software Engineer, Backend Location:

NYC or SF (On-site, 5 days a week) About Highlight AI Highlight AI is a cutting-edge desktop assistant designed to enhance productivity by seamlessly integrating with your workflow. We empower users to interact with any application using text and voice commands, eliminating the need to switch between tools. After raising a seed round from investors like General Catalyst, Valor Equity, SV Angel, and Conviction Fund, we're now in hypergrowth mode and expanding our team. The Role We're seeking a Senior Backend Software Engineer to join our fast-paced engineering team in our New York City or San Francisco office. You'll play a critical role in building and scaling our cross-platform application, working across the stack —from modern TypeScript frontends to native system-level integrations — with a strong emphasis on performance, reliability, and seamless user experience. This is a highly technical role for someone who's excited to work at the intersection of desktop software, native development, and AI integration, and who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Note:

this is an on-site role, requiring five days a week in our NYC or SF headquarters. Job Responsibilities Design, build, and maintain core features of an Electron desktop application Own end-to-end implementation of infrastructure features Develop and integrate LLM-based functionality Collaborate on native code written in C++ (Windows) and Swift (macOS) Help make architectural decisions and contribute to the technical direction of the company Profile We're looking for someone who is interested in building the AI user experience for the future. We punch above our weight so we value extreme ownership, accountability, and proactiveness. The ideal candidate combines technical prowess with strong leadership skills. You might be a good fit if you have: 5+ years of experience as a founder or engineer in a hyperspeed startup

• we ship features fast, so we need someone who can keep up.

Robust backend engineering background, with experience in: Node.js, TypeScript, React, and Electron for building performant desktop apps. Modern cloud platforms, including Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, and Azure. Native development, particularly with C++ and Swift, including building and integrating low-level modules into cross-platform applications. Building and productionizing AI/LLM-powered features using platforms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Amazon Bedrock, and Microsoft Azure—with strong competency in prompt engineering and a working knowledge of MCP server architectures. Ownership mentality (no task is too small for you)

• it's all hands on deck here and we need everyone rowing the boat. Deep understanding of system architecture and design patterns
• we're looking for someone who can hit the ground running day one. Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset
• we're extremely lean so we're looking for a team player who works well with others.

Type-A tendencies:

maybe you're extremely detail-oriented. Or maybe you take pride in shipping high-quality products. Whatever it is you do, you give it your all. Must be based in or willing to relocate to NYC or SF

• although we're flexible with days off & schedules, we have a 100% in-office culture during the week.

And even if you don't fall neatly into any of these buckets, we're looking for scrappy and motivated self-starters above all. Hustle is expected, grit is required. Perks Competitive salary and generous equity package Health, dental, and vision insurance Flexible PTO and parental leave Paid team lunches during the week Relocation package Apply now See more open positions at Highlight