DevOps / Backend Engineer (Junior to Mid-Level) – Egofold

Snail Games USA•Culver City, CA

4h•$110,000 - $145,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Snail Games USA is seeking a hands-on Backend / DevOps Engineer to support Egofold, its AI-focused technology initiative. The role designs, develops, and maintains backend services, APIs, and supporting infrastructure for AI-enabled applications, intelligent agents, and simulation environments. Backend development is the primary focus, with additional work on cloud infrastructure, deployment automation, and DevOps workflows. This is an individual-contributor role on a small, fast-moving engineering team. The engineer owns assigned work from requirements and solution design through implementation, testing, deployment, troubleshooting, and ongoing maintenance, and collaborates with AI engineers and researchers to turn evolving technologies into reliable products. The position is hybrid in the Los Angeles area, with 1–2 days onsite per week. Egofold develops Non-Human Players (NHPs), AI agents designed to perceive, learn, make decisions, and interact with video games. The initiative combines AI research with practical engineering to explore applications for intelligent agents and AI-driven technologies. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not offered now or in the future. Employees may encounter mature, violent, sexual, graphic, or otherwise sensitive creative material as part of their work and are expected to engage with it professionally.

Requirements

Professional backend software engineering experience, including the ability to independently develop and maintain production-quality applications.
Strong proficiency in Python, Go, or a comparable backend programming language.
Hands-on experience designing, developing, and integrating RESTful APIs or similar backend services.
Practical experience working with relational or NoSQL databases.
Working knowledge of Linux environments, Git, and cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker.
Familiarity with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, deployment processes, and infrastructure troubleshooting.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to independently investigate and resolve technical challenges.
Demonstrated initiative, accountability, and ownership of assigned engineering projects.
Effective communication skills and willingness to collaborate across engineering disciplines.
Ability to work effectively in a small, fast-paced engineering environment with evolving technical requirements.
Legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application; visa sponsorship is not offered.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing backend services supporting artificial intelligence, machine-learning applications, or data-intensive systems.
Familiarity with Kubernetes, Terraform, or comparable infrastructure automation technologies.
Experience with distributed systems, observability tools, and scalable cloud infrastructure.
Familiarity with GPU computing environments or AI model deployment infrastructure.
Experience supporting simulation environments, intelligent agents, or AI-driven applications.
Background working in startup environments, research-focused engineering teams, or emerging technology initiatives.
Experience building and maintaining backend systems from early prototypes through production deployment.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, test, and maintain backend services, APIs, and data integrations supporting AI agents, internal applications, and simulation environments.
Own assigned systems and features from requirements and architecture through implementation, deployment, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement.
Develop and maintain cloud infrastructure, containerized applications, CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and system monitoring.
Identify and resolve technical issues, optimize backend performance, and implement reliable, maintainable solutions.
Collaborate with AI engineers and researchers to integrate backend services with AI models, intelligent agents, and evolving machine-learning workflows.
Improve development and deployment efficiency through scripting, automation, testing, and infrastructure improvements.
Work with engineering and research teams to prototype solutions, troubleshoot integration challenges, and deliver functional systems as requirements evolve.
Maintain clear documentation of backend services, APIs, infrastructure configurations, and deployment procedures.

Benefits

Competitive annual salary of $110,000–$145,000.
Strong focus on work/life balance.
Paid company holidays.
Paid vacation and separate sick leave.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Life insurance and long-term disability coverage.
401(k) retirement plan with company match.
Opportunities to contribute to innovative AI and emerging technology initiatives.
Professional growth and technical development through hands-on engineering challenges and exposure to emerging technologies.
Collaborative work alongside AI researchers, software engineers, and technical specialists.
Meaningful contribution to foundational infrastructure for Egofold's evolving AI ecosystem.