Staff Software Engineer

At FourKites we have the opportunity to tackle complex challenges with real-world impacts. Whether it’s medical supplies from Cardinal Health or groceries for Walmart, the FourKites platform helps customers operate global supply chains that are efficient, agile and sustainable. Join a team of curious problem solvers that celebrates differences, leads with empathy and values inclusivity . We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer – AI to join FourKites' OTR Engineering team. In this role, you will bring mastery-level backend engineering to a team operating 75+ microservices, while owning the applied AI layer that powers production agents — Tracy, Sam, Cassie, and Foresight — along with Dispatch MCP endpoints co-located within OTR services. What you’ll be doing: You will architect advanced backend systems, lead large-scale development efforts, and ensure codebase scalability across a high-throughput, event-driven environment. You will simultaneously drive the integration of LLM-powered agents within those services — designing tool-use patterns, audit trails, and human-in-the-loop checkpoints that meet enterprise reliability standards. You will mentor SSE/SE engineers, lead in-depth technical analysis and root cause investigations, and act as a recognized technical expert who guides the team's problem-solving and AI adoption maturity forward. FourKites processes over 3.2 million supply chain events daily across 1,600+ global brands, and this engineer will shape how intelligence is embedded across all of it. Develop, test and maintain backend applications Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code Design and implement data models and database schemas Collaborate with the frontend team to integrate the backend with the user interface Perform code reviews and ensure code quality standards are met Troubleshoot and debug applications Implement code with very high coverage of unit tests and component tests Cross-training peers and mentoring teammates Work with the DevOps team to deploy and manage applications in production Continuously learn and stay up-to-date with new technologies and industry trends About the team: The OTR Engineering team at FourKites builds and operates a highly scalable, event-driven platform powering 75+ microservices and processing millions of global supply chain events daily. The team leads the development of production AI agents like Tracy, Sam, Cassie, and Foresight, embedding intelligence directly into logistics workflows. With a strong focus on technical excellence, ownership, and mentorship, the team is driving the next wave of AI-powered supply chain innovation. Who you are: Experience in Design, architect, implement, test, profile, release, and optimize highest quality software/services Strong understanding of Object-oriented programming principles Good knowledge of Java + Spring, GoLang, Ruby on Rails Experience in Cloud: Azure and Amazon Web Services Experience with databases such as PostgreSQL, or MongoDB Familiarity with front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Good knowledge of RESTful APIs and microservices architecture Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills Ability to work independently and in a team environment Possess expert knowledge in performance, security, scalability, architecture, and best practices Strong knowledge of Git (branches, submodules, rebasing) and other Agile tools such as JIRA Confluence. Agile SDLC experience. Excellent oral and written communication skills Experience in distributed systems and microservices Architecture, backend system design, data engineering and AI Agent Integration Applied AI Engineering We know that job postings can be intimidating, and research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized folks tend to only apply when they check every box. We encourage you to apply if you think you may be a fit and give us both a chance ... (truncated, view full listing at source)