About Backflip
Mechanical design, the work done in CAD, is the rate-limiter for progress in the physical world. However, there are only 2-4 million people on Earth who know how to CAD. But what if hundreds of millions could? What if creating something in the real world were as easy as imagining the use case, or sketching it on paper?
Backflip is building a foundation model for mechanical design : unifying the world’s scattered engineering knowledge into an intelligent, end-to-end design environment. Our goal is to enable anyone to imagine a solution and hit “print.”
Founded by a second-time CEO in the same space (first company : Markforged), Backflip combines deep industry insight with breakthrough AI research. Backed by a16z and NEA , we raised a $30M Series A and built a deeply technical, mission-driven team.
We’re building the AI foundation that tomorrow’s space elevators, nanobots, and spaceships will be built in.
If you’re excited to define the next generation of hard tech, come build it with us.
The Role
We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to help design, build, and ship the software backbone of Backflip’s intelligent design environment.
You’ll work across the stack creating intuitive, high-performance interfaces that connect human creativity to cutting-edge AI. Your work will directly shape how designers, engineers, and creators interact with our mechanical engineering foundation model, turning advanced ML capabilities into real, usable tools.
This is a hands-on, high-impact engineering role that blends architecture, infrastructure, and product thinking. You’ll be a key voice in product design and a partner to our AI and data teams as we define the next generation of tools to create our physical world.
What You’ll Do
Design and build scalable, reliable full-stack systems using React, Node.js, and Python.
Deploy an ML model to production : you’ve done it before, and you’ll do it again : build robust products that users love.
Collaborate closely with ML and data teams to integrate models and pipelines into real-world products.
Architect backend systems around AWS services, databases, and modern data infrastructure.
Own performance and scale : build APIs, indexes, and search systems that make high-dimensional data feel instant.
Contribute to product direction : work with design, AI, and leadership to turn technical capabilities into delightful user experiences.
(Optional but exciting) : advance 3D visualization, geometry, or rendering engines that make engineering feel magical.
Who You Are
You’re a strong generalist who can build, ship, and scale complex full-stack systems.
You’re fluent in React, Node.js, and Python , and comfortable designing APIs, services, and data flows end-to-end.
You’ve shipped large production systems , ideally ones that touch ML, data, or search.
You have experience with AWS databases , and you enjoy thinking about indexing, search, and vector data systems .
You’re pragmatic, product-minded, and enjoy owning features from concept to deployment.
You collaborate naturally with AI, design, and data teams, and love turning complexity into clarity.
Bonus points if :
You’ve worked with large-scale data processing pipelines .
You have an interest in math, geometry, topology, rendering, or computational geometry .
You’ve built software in 3D printing, CAD, or computer graphics domains.
Why Backflip
This is a rare opportunity to create the interfaces, infrastructure, and experiences that bring a new kind of intelligence to the physical world , and help define how AI becomes a tool for the imagination.
You love building systems that are elegant, fast, and deeply technical, and want to see them shape the real world.
Let’s build the tools the future will be made in.
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Staff Software Engineer • San Francisco, CA, United States