Staff+ Software Engineer, Backend

Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

4d•$405,000 - $485,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic is hiring experienced, product-minded backend engineers to own systems powering user experiences across its API, Claude Code, and Claude.ai. The role involves independently scoping complex, multi-month projects in ambiguous problem spaces; leading technical and product decisions; aligning with product, engineering, and research teams; and translating model improvements into shipped products. Engineers make architectural decisions affecting the reliability and scalability of systems serving hundreds of thousands of global users, design effective operational processes, and remain hands-on with code and models. Hiring spans several backend product teams, with team placement determined after interviews based on candidates’ interests and experience and organizational needs. Areas include API performance and serving, platform ecosystem and commercial capabilities, knowledge retrieval, developer tools, agent infrastructure, authentication and identity, platform distribution, enterprise foundations, and safety-related identity and verification. Engineers collaborate with product, design, go-to-market, forward-deployed engineering, research, security, support, trust and safety, and customers to develop and deliver product strategy. The position is hybrid: staff are currently expected to work from an office at least 25% of the time, though some roles may require more. The minimum education is a bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience in a relevant field. The listed annual salary range is $405,000–$485,000 USD. Anthropic sponsors visas, though sponsorship cannot be guaranteed for every role or candidate.

Requirements

At least 8 years of relevant experience as a backend or product engineer.
Track record of leading complex, multi-month projects or teams as a tech lead or equivalent.
Strong coding fundamentals and comfort working across backend systems, APIs, and integrations, with ability to reach into frontend when needed.
Experience designing and delivering large-scale production backend systems for high-adoption B2B or consumer-facing products.
Ability to drive alignment across technical and non-technical teams, communicate clearly, influence technical decisions beyond the immediate team, and help others ramp on systems.
Product-focused approach and care for solutions that are robust, scalable, and easy to use.
Commitment to mentoring and supporting the growth of peers.
Experience with distributed systems, API design, and cloud infrastructure at scale.
Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments and navigate ambiguity to find high-leverage paths forward.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience; relevant field of study demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Responsibilities

Own backend systems powering user experiences across the API, Claude Code, and Claude.ai.
Independently scope and lead complex, multi-month projects through ambiguous problem spaces.
Lead peers through technical and product decisions and align with product, engineering, and research teams.
Identify capability gaps and translate frontier model improvements into shipped products.
Make architectural decisions to ensure reliability and scalability for systems serving hundreds of thousands of global users.
Design processes that help teams operate effectively and learn from failures.
Build and scale backend products and infrastructure across areas such as API serving, developer experience, retrieval, agents, identity, distribution, enterprise capabilities, and safety verification.
Work with internal and external customers and cross-functional partners to shape strategy and deliver products.
Stay hands-on with code and models.