Senior Backend Engineer (Conversational AI)

Company Description

Yuna's mission is to radically transform the way mental health support is accessed and delivered. By providing 24 / 7 instant and private support at the push of a button, we aim to address the significant gaps in mental health care accessibility. In a system where waiting times for therapists can reach up to 48 days and many people can't even afford care, Yuna is the answer to immediate mental health support needs.

We’re growing quickly, and every person who joins us plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of mental health technology.

Position Overview

You’ll be the backbone behind Yuna’s conversational stack—owning services, data, and runtime that make our AI safe, fast, and reliable at scale. You’ll partner with the Staff ML Engineer to turn models into resilient, observable, HIPAA-aware product experiences.

What you’ll do

Design, build, and operate services for conversation state, user memory, retrieval, and tool integrations (REST / gRPC).

Work closely with clinical psychologists (both internal and external to Yuna), ensuring the efficacy of Yuna’s conversational AI

Collaborate with front end teams for API creation, QA, and implementation

Implement alignment & safety layers (e.g., self-harm detection, red-teaming, refusal strategies, escalation paths) tuned to clinical guidelines

Optimize for latency, cost, and quality

Partner tightly with product, sales, and users to scope new features and

What you’ll bring

5+ years building backend systems in production (Go / Python / NodeJS), with strong systems and API design skills

Hands-on experience with AI agents, RAG pipelines, and LLMs

Cloud infrastructure expertise (Google Cloud Platform)

Proficiency with relational + vector / search systems and real-time communication (sockets, WebRTC)

Nice to have : Swift (iOS client integration)

Strong product sense; you care about user outcomes, not just model metrics

Comfort working with ambiguity and creating systems 0 to 1

Location : Remote (work from anywhere, with at least 4 hours overlap with PST)

Employment Type : Full Time

What We Offer

Competitive salary (based on experience) + equity options

Remote-first culture with flexibility

A fast-growing, talented, and empathetic team dedicated to transforming mental health care

The opportunity to make a real-world impact, building cutting-edge AI systems and real-time communication platforms that improve lives every day