Backend Security Engineer

Contract · Remote · Approximately 15 hours/week

Annual Compensation Equivalent: $57,600–$192,000
Hourly Rate: $30–$100/hr

Annual compensation equivalent is calculated at 40 hours per week across 48 workable weeks per year. It represents a full-time equivalent and is not a guaranteed salary. Actual compensation is output-based and depends on completed tasks.

About the Role

We are seeking experienced Backend Security Engineers with strong software engineering and cybersecurity expertise to create realistic coding and security challenges used to train and evaluate AI systems.

You will design challenging tasks involving backend development, feature implementation, bug fixing, security vulnerabilities, debugging, and performance optimization. You will also create deterministic verifiers that reliably distinguish valid solutions from incorrect or insecure implementations.

No prior AI experience is required. The focus is on your practical backend engineering, security expertise, and technical judgment.

What You’ll Do

• Design realistic and challenging backend engineering and security tasks for AI systems to solve.

• Create tasks involving feature implementation, bug fixing, debugging, security vulnerabilities, and performance optimization.

• Develop deterministic verifiers that accept valid solutions and reject incorrect, incomplete, or invalid implementations.

• Work with backend technologies including Java, Node.js, Go, Rust, TypeScript, Python, C++, or similar languages.

• Build and evaluate scalable backend services and APIs.

• Identify and troubleshoot software defects, security weaknesses, and system bottlenecks.

• Apply automated testing to validate functionality, reliability, and security.

• Review code for correctness, maintainability, performance, and security.

• Refactor complex or legacy codebases while maintaining functional and security requirements.

• Apply secure coding principles and established security frameworks to practical engineering problems.

• Document technical reasoning, security considerations, implementation decisions, and solution approaches.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong backend software engineering experience.

• Hands-on expertise with one or more of Java, Node.js, Go, Rust, TypeScript, Python, C++, or similar technologies.

• Proven experience building scalable services and APIs.

• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills.

• Experience with performance optimization and automated testing.

• Sound code review judgment.

• Experience identifying and resolving software vulnerabilities and defects.

• Experience implementing complex features in large-scale applications.

• Experience refactoring and improving existing codebases.

• Strong understanding of algorithms, data structures, and foundational computer science.

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and technical communication skills.

Cybersecurity Experience

Strong cybersecurity or SecOps experience is particularly relevant, including:

• Secure software development

• Application security

• Penetration testing

• Vulnerability assessment

• Security audits

• Security-focused code reviews

• OWASP

• CWE

• Identification and remediation of backend security vulnerabilities

Assessment & Evaluation Process

The assessment process is designed to evaluate independent technical reasoning and problem-solving ability.

Candidates are expected to complete the interview and assessment stages without outside assistance. The same principle applies during project work, where contributions should reflect your own technical judgment.

The process includes:

1. Application and screening questions

2. AI interview — approximately 30 minutes

3. Technical assessment, if applicable

4. Hiring manager review

Schedule & Engagement

• Contract engagement

• Remote

• Approximately 15 hours per week

• Flexible schedule — choose your working hours and days, including weekends if preferred

• Compensation: $30–$100/hr

• Compensation is output-based and tied to tasks that meet project specifications

• Minimum weekly submission requirements apply

• Actual earnings depend on completed tasks, hours worked, and available project scope

Start Timeline

Selected engineers should be prepared to begin their first tasks within 24–48 hours after completing onboarding.