Software Engineer - Back End (New York)

Edra

📍New York, NY
Posted May 21, 2026

Job Overview

Position

Software Engineer - Back End (New York)

Company

Edra

Location

New York, NY

Work Type

On-site

Job ID

li-4385013703

Job Description

About Edra
Edra is solving one of the hardest problems in enterprise AI: AI models are generic but company processes are specific. We build AI agents that learn how processes actually run, and then run their operations.

We're a Series A startup, backed by Sequoia and other leading VC firms, and we're growing our team in New York and London. We're a deeply technical team of engineers, AI researchers, and strategists with a high bar for talent and a shared belief that exceptional people are the foundation of everything great we'll build.

The Role
We're looking for Backend Engineers who care deeply about the craft of building software: strong typing, thoughtful API design, robust data modeling, and systems that are a pleasure for other engineers to work with. You won't be building AI models, you'll be building everything around them: the platform, workflows, interfaces, integrations, and observability that make our AI useful in the real world. As an early engineer at Edra, you'll shape not just the product but the engineering culture, tooling choices, and technical foundations the company is built on.

We work deliberately and deeply. There's no separation between "building it" and "shipping it"--you'll go from whiteboard to production and own the outcome. We'd rather build something thoughtfully than ship something fragile, and we treat velocity and quality as complementary, not competing.

What You'll Do

  • Design and build platform systems in Python (Fast API), from API contracts to database schema and infrastructure

  • Build and maintain connectors, integrations, and data pipelines that connect our platform to external systems

  • Build internal libraries, tooling, and interfaces that make the rest of the engineering team more productive

  • Own your work fully: gather context, manage dependencies, and drive tasks to completion without a product manager handing you tickets

  • Wear multiple hats across the stack–you might design a schema in the morning, build the API layer in the afternoon, and debug a deployment issue before end of day

  • Participate in weekly product meetings, understand how customers and forward deployed engineers use what you build, and shape what gets built next

  • Collaborate daily with a small, high-caliber team of engineers and AI specialists

  • Have direct influence on technical direction: choose tools, set patterns, and establish conventions the team will build on for years

What We’re Looking For

  • 3+ years of experience in software engineering (but a computer science degree is not necessarily required)

  • A love of writing Python and/or TypeScript to a genuinely high standard–well-modeled, well-typed, and well-documented. Strong typing feels like a superpower, not a chore

  • Experience building libraries, SDKs, or internal tooling that made other developers' lives easier (and you’ve enjoyed it)

  • You light up when designing a clean database schema and take real pride in getting data models right

  • You're at your best when you own a problem end to end — comfortable with ambiguity and energized by turning a vague problem into a well-scoped solution

  • You're drawn to building foundational systems from scratch — greenfield work where your decisions compound over time excites you

Don't meet all of the above? We'd still love to hear from you. We're looking for exceptional people with unique skills and interests, and we know that great people have different backgrounds and skillsets. If your primary interest is building agentic systems, working with LLMs, or doing applied ML, check out our AI Engineering role–it might be a better fit.

Learn More About Edra

  • Watch our Series A announcement video

  • Read our blog post from our launch

  • Learn more about what we're building

A Few Details
Edra is an equal opportunity employer and we encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds. Edra does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Compensation Range: $180K - $250K

Interview Prep

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Key Skills

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Practice Questions

💡Technical Questions (3)
  • 1.How do you approach designing a robust API contract and database schema for a greenfield feature in FastAPI, especially when the data model needs to integrate with unpredictable external systems?
  • 2.Edra relies heavily on connectors and data pipelines to external systems. Can you describe your approach to building resilient integrations that handle external API rate limits, downtime, or unexpected data formats?
  • 3.The JD mentions strong typing feels like a superpower. How do you leverage modern Python typing (type hints, Pydantic, generics) to improve developer experience and system reliability when building internal libraries?
🎯Behavioral Questions (3)
  • 1.Tell me about a time you had to take a vague, ambiguous problem and drive it to a well-scoped solution end-to-end without a product manager handing you detailed tickets.
  • 2.Describe a time you built an internal library, SDK, or tooling that made other developers' lives easier. What was your design process, and how did you ensure it was adopted?
  • 3.Give an example of a time you had to wear multiple hats across the stack in a single day or week—perhaps designing a schema, building the API, and debugging a deployment issue. How do you context-switch effectively?
🧩Situational Questions (2)
  • 1.You are tasked with building a new connector to an external SaaS platform, but their API documentation is poor and their data formats seem inconsistent. How do you proceed?
  • 2.You need to build a foundational platform component from scratch that will be used by the rest of the engineering team for years to come. How do you balance the desire to build it perfectly with the need to ship it and gather user feedback?

Resume Keywords

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PythonFastAPIAPI DesignDatabase SchemaData ModelingInternal ToolingSDKData PipelinesEnd-to-End OwnershipStrong TypingPydanticGreenfield

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