{"id":587689,"url":"https://alion.io/job/iact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems","title":"Software Engineer (m/f/d) Backend & Applied AI Systems","company":{"id":82573,"name":"iACT","domain":"iact.ae","url":"https://alion.io/company/iact","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":null,"truth_index":null},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"junior","employment_type":"contractor","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Jena, Germany"],"countries":["DE"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":58000,"max_usd":126000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":16},"experience_years_min":2,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Django","optional":false},{"name":"FastAPI","optional":false},{"name":"GDPR","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"Text-to-Speech","optional":false},{"name":"WebSockets","optional":false},{"name":".NET","optional":true},{"name":"AWS","optional":true},{"name":"Azure","optional":true},{"name":"C#","optional":true},{"name":"Docker","optional":true},{"name":"Embeddings","optional":true},{"name":"GCP","optional":true},{"name":"GitHub","optional":true},{"name":"GitLab","optional":true},{"name":"Hetzner","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-07T11:32:34Z","employer_posted_date":null,"last_verified_at":"2026-09-07T11:32:34Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":null,"days_open":49,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":49},"description":"Join the founding team behind an immersive AI-powered VR training platform\nAbout iACT iACT is an AI-powered immersive platform that helps international talent navigate social, professional, academic, and administrative life in Germany through realistic, interactive practice.\nWe have a functional prototype and are preparing for institutional pilots. We are looking for a backend and applied AI engineer who wants to shape the technical foundation of the product from an early stage.\nThe opportunity\nThis is not a standard salaried vacancy. You would join the prospective founding team and apply with us for the EXIST Business Start-up Grant. The commitment would begin only if the grant is approved. If approved, the programme provides a 12-month, full-time scholarship while the team develops the product and business.\nTasks\nYour role\nOwn the backend and applied AI architecture connecting the Unity VR client with authentication, databases, speech services, and LLM/RAG pipelines.\nDesign secure REST and WebSocket APIs and define reliable client-server contracts with our Unity/VR developer.\nImplement authentication, authorisation, role management, and GDPR-conscious data flows.\nDesign and maintain data models for users, sessions, learning progress, and application data.\nIntegrate and orchestrate LLM, RAG, Speech-to-Text, and Text-to-Speech services.\nDevelop dialogue-state logic and systems for retrieving institution-specific knowledge.\nOptimise AI pipelines for latency, reliability, observability, and cost.\nSupport secure, scalable cloud deployment and prepare the platform for institutional pilots and future commercial use.\nRequirements\nWhat you bring\nA degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.\nAt least two years of hands-on backend development experience.\nStrong Python skills and experience with FastAPI, Django, or a comparable framework.\nExperience building REST and/or WebSocket services and working with databases such as PostgreSQL.\nA solid understanding of authentication, authorisation, API security, and scalable backend design.\nPractical experience integrating LLM APIs and/or RAG systems into real applications.\nComfort designing systems for real-time or interactive clients.\nEnglish proficiency at B1 level or higher\nBased in Germany or willing to relocate, and available for a full-time commitment if the grant is approved.\nNice to have\nExperience with vector databases, embeddings, and production RAG pipelines.\nExperience integrating Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech services.\nDocker and cloud deployment experience with AWS, Azure, GCP, Hetzner, or similar.\nKnowledge of GDPR and privacy-by-design principles.\nExperience with C#/.NET, Unity integrations, VR/XR, or other real-time interactive applications.\nBenefits\nWhat we offer\nOwnership of the backend and applied AI architecture from prototype to pilot.\nA small, founder-led team with substantial influence over technical direction and product decisions.\nFlexible working hours and a high degree of creative freedom.\nIf the EXIST application is approved, a 12-month monthly scholarship of €3,000 for doctorate holders, €2,500 for university graduates, €2,000 for team members with vocational qualifications, or €1,000 for students, plus €150 per child.\nIf approved, the project may also receive up to €30,000 in material funding for a team and €5,000 for coaching.\nFollowing the funding phase, the opportunity to discuss a long-term Co-Founder/CTO role with equity, subject to mutual fit and a separate agreement.\nImportant funding conditions\nThe position and scholarship are contingent on approval of the EXIST application. EXIST supports teams of up to three people, and individual eligibility depends on the programme’s current rules. We will review eligibility with shortlisted candidates before moving forward.\nIf you're excited about building the technical backbone of a product that helps people integrate and thrive in a new country, we'd love to hear from you.\nSend your CV, GitHub/GitLab profile or portfolio, and a short note on why you'd like to build this with us to:\nZeinab Rahimi","description_format":"text","description_chars":4150,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":2,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"Intermediate (B1)","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Equity","Flexible schedule"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Germany","iso":"DE","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-10T07:38:38Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":5,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":0.4,"p_active":0.434,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":48,"expected_fill_days":20,"reasons":["seen:48","win:tail","crowd:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-26T05:57:25Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/iact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/iact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-27T01:19:46Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":121,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-28T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":82573},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=82573"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fiact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fiact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fiact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/iact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fiact-software-engineer-mfd-backend-applied-ai-systems"}]}