LiteLLM is the world's most popular AI Gateway, trusted by companies like Adobe, Netflix, and NASA. We're building the next generation of infrastructure for AI applications—and now we're building our second product.
Skills: Python, LLM APIs, FastAPI
As the Backend LLM Engineer, you'll be responsible for ensuring LiteLLM unifies the format for calling LLM APIs in the broader OpenAI + Anthropic spec. This involves writing transformations to convert API requests from OpenAI/Anthropic spec to various LLM provider formats, building provider-agnostic unification functionality (e.g. session management across non-openai models for /v1/responses API, etc.). You'll work directly with the CEO and CTO on critical projects including:
System design for supporting provider level features at the gateway level (skills, compaction, batches, etc.)
Thinking about the developer experience - to support millions of users who leverage your work via LiteLLM's Python SDK
Building across LLM's, MCP's, and Agents by maintaining an excellent LLM interoperability layer, supporting a wide range of MCP Auth flows and enabling various Agent use-cases
What is our tech stack
The tech stack includes Python, FastAPI, Redis, Postgres.
1-2 years of backend/full-stack experience with production systems
Passion for open source and user engagement
Experience working with the OpenAI api (understand the difference between /chat/completions and /responses, and can speak to API-specific nuances)
Strong work ethic and ability to thrive in small teams
Eagerness to talk to users and help solve real problems
Work directly with the founders every day.
Build products used by thousands of engineering teams around the world.
Own meaningful product decisions—not just implementation.
Move incredibly fast and see your work in production immediately.
Help define the future of AI infrastructure and developer tooling.
Competitive salary, equity, health, dental, and vision benefits.
About LiteLLM
LiteLLM is the world's most widely adopted AI Gateway. We provide a unified API for 100+ LLM providers along with routing, authentication, budgets, observability, and governance for production AI systems. Thousands of companies rely on LiteLLM to power AI in production.
If you love talking to users, building products, and shipping software that people actually use, we'd love to meet you.
LiteLLM provides an open source Python SDK and Python FastAPI Server that allows calling 100+ LLM APIs (Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, VertexAI, Cohere, Anthropic) in the OpenAI format
We have raised $1.6M in Seed funding from top investors (Y Combinator, Gravity Fund and Pioneer Fund), generate $10M+ in ARR and growing exponentially, and are meaningfully profitable.
You can find more information on our website, Github and Technical Documentation.
Salary
$170,000 - $220,000
Location
San Francisco
Experience
0+ years
Total raised
$1.6M
Last stage
Seed
Investors
No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.