Software Engineer Backend

Freight forwarding is a $200B+ industry you might not know about, but it’s the backbone of the global economy, ensuring goods move seamlessly around the world. Freight forwarders—like DHL, FedEx, and UPS—act as “travel agents” for goods, managing the complex operations that keep supply chains running.

Surprisingly, this critical industry remains largely untouched by modern software, with many processes still managed manually or through outdated systems. The eco-system is so fragile that one missed email can disrupt an entire shipment, leading to delays, poor service, and financial losses.

At Raft, we’re building an AI platform to automate freight operations. From auditing invoices and preparing customs filings to syncing information across systems, we empower operators to work more efficiently and accurately. The impact? Faster service, fewer errors, and more time for businesses to focus on growth and customer service.

We’re fortunate to have the support of top investors who are just as passionate as we do about transforming the industry, including Eight Roads (Alibaba, Spendesk, Toast), Bessemer Venture Partners (LinkedIn, Twilio, Shopify), Episode 1 (Zoopla, Betfair, Shazam), and Dynamo Ventures (Sennder, Stord, Gatik).

As a SWE Backend (ML) Forward Deployed (Integration), you will collaborate directly with customers and customer facing teams to understand their needs and provide technical expertise while delivering tailored solutions. This role combines software engineering with customer-facing responsibilities, where you’ll be working closely with clients to design and implement solutions that align with their business requirements. You’ll be part of a cross-functional team that works directly with customers, ensuring they have the best experience with Raft's platform while solving complex engineering challenges. You’ll need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced, customer-driven environment and ready to deliver high-quality software solutions to diverse clients.

What You'll Do:

• Partner closely with the Machine Learning team to design and implement scalable solutions for customers using Raft’s platform, ensuring that their unique business needs are met.
• Work directly with clients to gather requirements, provide technical guidance, and support the integration of our platform into their systems and serve as the post-go-live machine learning point of contact.
• Develop custom APIs and backend services that enable seamless integration with customer environments.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues, acting as the technical liaison between customers and the Raft engineering team.
• Deliver small, targeted features to unblock high-priority edge cases and resolve customer tickets; partner closely with the ML team on inference/data-pipeline issues, adding validation and guardrails where needed.
• Deep collaboration with internal teams (Product, Engineering, Customer Success and Sales) to form a strong partnership, refine features and improve the customer experience. You’ll create clean documentation for projects for smooth handover.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of our backend architecture and services based on customer feedback and emerging industry trends.
• Build and maintain self-service tooling to enable non-engineers to diagnose and resolve common issues.

Requirements:

• Proven experience in Python-based backend development is essential. Exposure to frontend technologies, particularly React, is desirable.
• Comfortable troubleshooting complex technical issues in production environments, ensuring quick resolution and minimal downtime.
• Successfully delivered technical solutions and provided expert guidance to clients in professional services or consulting settings, leveraging strong communication skills.
• Ability to design and build scalable, cloud-based systems and APIs that integrate with client systems.
• Experience working with database technologies (preferably PostgreSQL) and backend frameworks like FastAPI.
• Knowledge of modern AI tools like Cursor.
• Experience working directly with LLMs and prompt engineering.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A problem-solving mindset, with a passion for customer satisfaction and delivering quality solutions.
• Experience with containerized tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and deployment practices in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to balance technical excellence with business requirements and time constraints

Apply Because You Want to...

• Join a dynamic, fast-growing company at the forefront of logistics technology, where you’ll be interacting with clients across various industries.
• Work in a client-centric role where your technical expertise helps solve real-world challenges for global businesses.
• Collaborate with diverse teams to create customized solutions that have a tangible impact on the efficiency of the logistics and freight industry.
• Thrive in a customer-facing, dynamic environment where you can grow your technical and communication skills.
• Be part of a diverse, inclusive, and multi-cultural team that values continuous learning and innovation.