Backend AI Developer (Smart Home & Agentic Systems)

Job TitleBackend AI Developer (Smart Home & Agentic Systems)About The ClientOur client is a Dubai-based real estate developer building technology-led, future-ready living environments. They combine design, advanced engineering and intelligent systems to create smarter homes and communities. Innovation, local-first AI and data-driven living sit at the core of how they build. They are now establishing a specialist engineering team to bring agentic intelligence into the physical home.Role OverviewWe are seeking a highly skilled and innovative Backend AI Developer to lead the design, development and orchestration of our next-generation agentic smart home platform. In this role, you will bridge the gap between physical smart home hardware, modern local data lakes, and cutting-edge local and cloud AI models. You will be responsible for creating autonomous, context-aware digital twins and agentic assistants that make spaces truly intelligent.If you are passionate about local-first AI, edge computing, smart home automation, and rapid prototyping workflows using modern AI-augmented coding tools, this role is designed for you.Technical Stack & EcosystemAI & Agents: OpenClaw, Nous Hermes (LLMs), ElevenLabs (voice synthesis), vision frameworks (OpenCV, Vision LLMs), Claude, Cursor, Ollama, LMStudio, OpenCodeSmart Home: Home Assistant (custom integrations, Assist pipeline, WebSocket APIs, AppDaemon)Languages: Python (core backend), React JS (dashboard and control interfaces), TypeScriptData Engineering: DuckDB, Apache Parquet (local analytical data lakes)Infrastructure: Docker, Proxmox VE (LXC, VM provisioning, GPU passthrough), Linux systemsKey Responsibilities AI & Agentic OrchestrationDesign, deploy and refine multi-agent systems using frameworks like OpenClaw and open-source models like Hermes, running locally via Ollama or LMStudioIntegrate multi-modal vision frameworks (e.g., OpenCV, vision-capable LLMs) to process security cameras, identify contextual events and generate real-time situational awarenessImplement lifelike, low-latency conversational voice interfaces using ElevenLabs APIs and streaming audio pipelinesLeverage AI-assisted coding tools like Cursor and Claude to accelerate engineering velocity and maintain high-quality code Smart Home Automation & IntegrationBuild deep integrations and custom components for Home Assistant to orchestrate sensors, switches, climate control and media devicesExtend Home Assistant's native Assist pipeline, or develop standalone custom agents that interact natively with the home's stateWork with real-time communication protocols, including MQTT, WebSockets and HTTP REST APIs Local Data Lake & EngineeringArchitect a local, high-performance data lake using DuckDB and Parquet to ingest, store and analyze thousands of sensor data points and telemetry eventsImplement analysis pipelines to detect anomalies, optimize energy usage and predict environmental and behavioral trendsCreate vector databases and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) indices to feed local, home-specific context directly into agent memory Infrastructure & DevOpsManage a self-hosted server environment virtualized under Proxmox VE, utilizing LXC containers and VMsContainerize applications using Docker and manage multi-container orchestrationConfigure hardware passthrough (e.g., GPU passthrough for local LLM inference, Coral USB TPU for vision processing) Frontend & UI SupportDevelop clean, high-performance, responsive custom dashboards and configuration portals in React JS to visualize agent states, telemetry and system controlsRequirementsRequired Experience & SkillsExperience: 3+ years of professional software development experience, with a heavy focus on AI integration, backend architecture and/or IoTAgentic System Expertise: Proven track record of building autonomous systems (multi-agent orchestration, tool-use/function-calling, RAG and memory management)Core Languages: Deep expertise in Python (asyncio, FastAPI, Pydantic) and comfort with React JS for building functional user interfacesInfrastructure Mindset: Strong competency in self-hosting, Linux administration and virtualization using Docker and Proxmox VEData Savvy: Experience working with modern analytical file formats (Parquet) and databases (DuckDB) for high-performance data processingAI Tooling Fluent: Active user of AI-augmented development environments (Cursor, Claude, OpenCode tools) to maximize engineering velocityPreferred / Bonus QualificationsActive contributions to open-source projects, particularly in the Home Assistant, Ollama, OpenClaw or agentic AI ecosystemsHands-on experience with hardware protocols: Zigbee, Z-Wave, ESPHome, or custom PCB/microcontroller programmingAdvanced knowledge of edge AI deployment, quantization and local model tuningWhy Join UsState-of-the-Art Work: Work at the cutting edge of local-first AI and agentic systemsOwnership: Complete autonomy over the software and hardware stackInnovation-First: A culture that encourages experimentation, self-hosting and pushing the boundaries of what home intelligence meansBenefitsCompensation & BenefitsCompetitive Tax-Free Salary: A market-leading monthly package in AED, commensurate with experiencePerformance Incentives: Rewards linked to quality and delivery outcomes, subject to Company Internal PolicyVisa & Medical Insurance: Full UAE visa sponsorship and comprehensive health coverPaid Leave: As per Company Internal Policy and UAE Labour LawAnnual Flight Ticket & End-of-Service Gratuity: As per UAE market practice and Labour LawTop-Tier Tooling: Modern hardware, local GPU infrastructure and AI-augmented development toolsLearning & Career Growth: Certification and conference support, with a clear path to leadershipAutonomy & Impact: Own the platform from the ground up and shape how AI is deployed in the physical home