Lead Backend Engineer (Node.js)
First seen by Alion on Nov 5, 2026.
About the Role
This role blends remote work with in-person collaboration at our Cherkasy office.
At iForAI, we help companies put AI into real products. Our team builds and integrates AI systems: copilots, agent platforms, retrieval-backed assistants, and document and workflow automation, working side by side with customer teams.
We’re hiring a Lead Backend Engineer to help drive that work. This is a hands-on role. You’ll guide a small backend team of 2 to 4 engineers, own backend architecture across services, and build the systems that put LLMs and agents into production workflows.
AI is changing how engineering teams work. The leverage today isn’t in typing code; it’s in clear specification, good judgment, and careful verification. If you have a strong backend background and you’re curious about working with AI day to day, we’ll bring you up to speed to the agentic coding by using AI.
Responsibilities
Lead and mentor a small backend team (2 to 4 engineers).
Own backend architecture and AI integrations: prompt and context handling, retrieval, orchestration, tool/function calling, evaluation, and observability.
Design and run reliable backend services that support real production workflows.
Use AI across the full development cycle (requirements, design, code, testing, debugging, and documentation) and help the team build the same habits. We’ll train you on this side if it’s new.
Work with PMs and customer teams to turn unclear problems into concrete, shippable work.
Take part in code review, architecture review, and technical writing.
Help keep engineering standards healthy: tests, CI/CD, releases, and learning from incidents.
Take part in hiring and team growth.
Requirements
Backend experience: 5+ years building production backend systems.
AI coding tools: day-to-day experience with Codex, Claude Code, or similar.
Node.js / TypeScript with experience in a framework like NestJS, Express, or Fastify (Next.js is a plus).
Databases: comfortable with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases, and an ORM such as Prisma, TypeORM, or Drizzle.
Caching and queues: working knowledge of Redis or a similar tool for caching and background jobs.
System design basics: API design, retries, idempotency, and reasonable latency and cost trade-offs.
Cloud and DevOps: experience with at least one of the AWS, GCP, or Azure environments, plus Docker and modern CI/CD.
Leadership: some experience leading or mentoring other developers.
Agile, distributed work: comfortable working in an Agile team across time zones.
English: B2+ professional level.
Nice to Have
LLM APIs: hands-on with OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google APIs (function/tool calling, structured outputs, prompt design, basic evals).
RAG: vector DBs (pgvector, Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant) and frameworks like LlamaIndex or LangChain.
Agents: orchestration with LangGraph, CrewAI, or similar; tool-use and multi-step planning patterns.
Workflow tools: n8n, Zapier, or Temporal.
Python: FastAPI, Flask, or Django for integrations or ML-adjacent services.
Infrastructure: Kubernetes or infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi).
Front-end exposure: React, Vue, or Angular, enough to collaborate well with frontend teammates.
Technical writing or open-source contributions.
Hiring process:
HR interview: we’ll talk about your professional background, the specifics of the position we are offering, and address any questions you might have.
Tech interview: a deeper look into your technical expertise and problem-solving approach, ensuring your skill set aligns with our project’s needs.
Culture interview: a non-technical conversation focused on team fit, communication, ownership, and day-to-day collaboration.
Feedback
Job offer
What we offer at iForAI:
Hardware Policy: Get the gear you need, from laptops to PCs.
Referral Bonus: Invite talent and earn a generous reward.
Professional Growth: We cover courses and books to fuel your expertise.
Tasty Perks: Free lunches, snacks, tea, and coffee to stay energized.
Birthday & Celebrations: Gifts on your day, plus parties and team-building.
Life Events Support: Wedding bonuses, childcare support, and more.
Volunteering Days: Extra days off to help your community.
Work-Life Balance: 18 paid vacation days, 10 paid sick days, and national holidays off.
If you have strong backend skills and you want to spend the next phase of your career building AI products with us, we’d love to talk.