{"id":23684,"url":"https://alion.io/job/trellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai","title":"Senior Principal Backend Engineer, Conversational AI","company":{"id":1978823,"name":"Savvy","domain":"savvy.insure","url":"https://alion.io/company/savvy-insure","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":null},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":220000,"max":235000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":235000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Google BigQuery","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"Looker","optional":false},{"name":"Node JS","optional":false},{"name":"Rest API","optional":false},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":false},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":true},{"name":"Slack","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-22T20:08:19Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-22","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T17:19:21Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":105,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":105},"description":"About Trellis\nTrellis is rewriting the insurance experience from the inside out. We’re the tech company behind Savvy, our licensed insurance agency, and we’re bringing clarity and ease to a space known for… the opposite. With powerful tools, clean design, and a customer-first mindset, we’re making insurance shopping refreshingly effortless.\nWe’re a profitable, fast-growing Series A startup backed by General Catalyst, QED, NYCA, and Amex Ventures. As a remote-first team, we move quickly, experiment boldly, and build with intention.\nIf you’re craving meaningful impact, energized by ambiguity, and are ready to build alongside exceptional teammates, you’re going to love doing your best work at Trellis.\nPosition Overview\nAs a Senior Principal Software Engineer on the Conversational AI team at Savvy (Trellis), you’ll play a critical role in shaping the future of our AI-driven customer experiences. You’ll architect and build intelligent systems that power natural, engaging conversations between users and our platform. Working closely with cross-functional partners, you’ll transform high-level product initiatives into scalable, well-tested technical solutions.\nYou’ll lead the way on complex projects by defining scope, setting technical direction, and mentoring teammates along the way. You’ll guide the team through tough challenges, offer thoughtful code reviews, and contribute to a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. Whether you're onboarding new teammates or refining our LLM-driven infrastructure, you’ll be a key force behind our AI innovation.\nYou will report directly into John Hartley, Head of Conversational AI.\nWhat You’ll Do\nOwn the ideation and execution of high-impact projects that directly influence the user experience and business outcomes\n\nFlesh out and evolve the Conversational AI Engineering roadmap alongside product and technical leadership\n\nIncept projects: identify opportunities, design solutions, and lead implementation\n\nGuide integration efforts with external agencies and insurance carriers\n\nNormalize, rank, and evaluate results using ML-based predictions to determine optimal user paths\n\nWork closely with our Data Science team to leverage MLMs in tools like DataRobot for retention forecasting and decision logic\n\nEnsure scalability and performance across the platform as we continue to grow\n\nWhat You’ll Need\nWhile you don’t need all of these to be successful in this role, we think you’ll be more successful the more you have.\n7+ years’ experience developing software in a production environment\n\n4+ years’ experience in a senior engineer role\n\nAbility to lead projects from conception through execution\n\nProduction experience with Node.js and Typescript\n\nProven experience working in backend systems, designing RESTful APIs and codifying business logic on top of data stores\n\nFamiliarity with GCP, Looker, BigQuery are a plus\n\nExceptional ability to communicate clearly and concisely, particularly in Slack and technical documents\n\nExperience in product development where you were a key decision maker\n\nCross-functional leadership and collaboration experience\n\nWho You Are\nMeticulous: You pay attention to detail and take pride in what you deliver\n\nArticulate: You succinctly and effectively communicate verbal and written technical and non-technical ideas and topics\n\nKind, not (just) nice: You provide tough feedback in a clear and concise manner that does not diminish or belittle the recipient\n\nOpinionated: You bring strong opinions to discussions but are willing to change your mind when presented with new or better information\n\nProduct-minded: You focus on the “why” just as much as the “what” or “how”\n\nCollaborative: You work within your team and cross-functionally to build consensus and achieve results\n\nAutonomous: You are self-motivated, able to hold yourself accountable, and can generate high-value work with little direct supervision\n\nWhy Trellis? Because you deserve a career that’s exciting, meaningful, and surrounded by people who lift you up.\nWe’re a group of curious, mission-driven humans rewriting the insurance experience and having a lot of fun along the way. At Trellis, you’ll make a real impact on a product millions rely on, and grow alongside a company that’s scaling fast.\nWhat sets Trellis apart:\nA transparent, collaborative culture where ideas win, not titles\nBig opportunities to take ownership and chart your growth\nCompetitive compensation (75th+ percentile)\nFully remote across the US & Canada\nQuarterly virtual and/or in-person events that keep us connected\nPlus, the benefits are built to support yourwhole life:\nFlexible vacation (yes, actually flexible)\nHealth insurance starts day one\nWellness programming, because balance matters\n401(k) and HSA contributions, FSAs, bonuses & equity opportunities\nPaid parental leave\nIf you want a role where you’ll grow, be trusted, and build something that genuinely improves people’s lives, Trellis is the place. Join us.\nWe are an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.\nNote: all employees must complete a background check prior to starting employment with Trellis or its subsidiaries","description_format":"text","description_chars":5217,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":7,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning","Equity","Health insurance","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["InsurTech","Financial Comparison & Loan Marketplaces"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-07-22T20:08:19Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":17,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.621,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":104,"expected_fill_days":45,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":235000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/trellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/trellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T22:16:52Z","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":539,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"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":1978823},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1978823"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ftrellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai"},{"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%2Ftrellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai"},{"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%2Ftrellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai"},{"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/trellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ftrellis-technologies-senior-principal-backend-engineer-conversational-ai"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":23684}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"savvy.insure","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":23684},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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