Build and scale core runtime systems for autonomous agents: design low-latency backend services, secure sandboxed execution environments, stateful runtime infrastructure, APIs, and highly concurrent distributed systems. Contribute to architecture and integrate third-party services while operating production backend systems.
About Ara
Ara (YC P26) is building the fastest personal AI agent computing environment, designed to run autonomous agents 24/7.
We provide instant, secure cloud runtimes where agents execute inside isolated environments with persistent state and real-world permissions. Agents can operate across file systems, inboxes, APIs, and workflows programmatically.
We are building the infrastructure layer that makes AI agents native to personal computing.
The Role
We are hiring a Software Engineer to help architect and scale the core runtime systems powering autonomous agents.
You will work on backend orchestration, secure sandboxed execution environments, stateful runtime infrastructure, API layers, and distributed systems designed for high concurrency and reliability.
This is an on-site role in San Francisco focused on foundational systems, not surface-level features.
What You Will Do
• Design and implement low-latency backend services
• Build and maintain secure execution environments
• Develop scalable distributed systems
• Integrate third-party APIs and external services
• Contribute to architectural decisions across the stack
What We Are Looking For
• Strong computer science fundamentals in systems, networking, and concurrency
• Experience building and operating production backend systems
• Proficiency in modern backend technologies and API design
• Comfort with cloud infrastructure and distributed architectures
• High ownership mindset and ability to ship quickly
Nice to have: experience with sandboxing, virtualization, agent frameworks, LLM-integrated systems, or infrastructure automation.
If you want to burn millions of tokens building real infrastructure instead of demos, join us.
CompensationThe base pay range for this role is $105,000 – $225,000 per year.
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