Senior Backend Engineer

About ZeroDriftZeroDrift is building the AI-native enforcement infrastructure for enterprise communication. We are the first platform that enforces the rules before an AI message is ever sent, fixing violations in real time across every channel where AI speaks for the business. Everything goes out clean. Nothing dangerous comes in.As AI starts to communicate on behalf of entire organizations, the gap between what compliance requires and what companies can actually enforce is widening fast. Every existing solution monitors after send, once the risk is already out the door. ZeroDrift enforces before send. Enforcement did not exist as a category. We created it.We are backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and other world-class VCs, and built by a team from Microsoft, Google, and Goldman Sachs, led by a repeat AI founder.The roleYou build the systems that let any app or AI agent ask ZeroDrift, in milliseconds, whether a message is allowed. You own how agents and developers connect to us, and the backend that keeps every rule current. This is a hands-on, individual-contributor role with real say over the architecture. You will be one of our first engineers, shaping the architecture of a new category, with the ownership and equity upside to match.What you will ownBuild the layer that connects AI agents and developer frameworks to ZeroDrift: proxies, SDKs, and agent toolingOwn the policy backend: the connectors, the ingest of rule sources and restricted lists, and the engine that tracks when rules changeBuild the controls that decide what each agent is allowed to doHit low latency and high reliability under enterprise load, since we sit in the path of every messageHold a high bar for security and data protection on sensitive contentWhat you bring5+ years building and running production backends at scaleStrong in a modern backend language (for example Go, Python, Java, or Node)Solid with APIs, distributed systems, databases, queues, and cachingComfortable with cloud, containers, and CI/CDYou care about latency, reliability, and clean code in equal measureBonus pointsLow-latency or real-time systemsBuilt SDKs, proxies, or developer-facing infrastructureWorked with sensitive or regulated dataHow we workWe are hyper-focused on speed of execution and on owning our work end to end. This is a full-time hybrid role: three days a week in our office at 4 World Trade Center in New York City, and the rest remote.BenefitsTop-tier medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus a 401(k).ZeroDrift is an equal opportunity employer. You must be authorized to work in the United States.