Software Engineer

Backend / Future AI Lead Engineer - Torch Systems (Bay Area) About Torch Torch is building the most accurate outdoor wildfire detection system in the world - a network of advanced IoT sensors and AI models that save lives, protect communities, and prevent billions in damage. We’re a small but high-performing team, backed by top-tier investors, with real deployments protecting critical infrastructure across California. We’re looking for a Bay Area-based Backend Engineer who can immediately take ownership of our backend stack — and, over time, grow into our Lead AI Engineer as we scale our data pipeline, ML models, and real-time alerting systems. This is an opportunity to be at the intersection of climate tech, AI, and mission-critical hardware. What You’ll Do Own and maintain our backend systems from day one. Develop APIs and services in Node.js (Fastify or similar frameworks). Manage deployments using Docker and Linux . Design and maintain scalable REST APIs with proper documentation in Swagger . Collaborate with our hardware and frontend teams to ensure seamless data flow. Work with massive real-world sensor datasets to prepare for AI/ML pipelines. Stay ahead of AI trends and help transition Torch into a data + AI powerhouse. Tech Stack & Requirements JavaScript / Node.js — 3+ years professional experience (5+ years if aiming for Lead). Strong experience with Docker , Linux server management. Fastify or other Node.js framework expertise. REST API design and implementation. Swagger (OpenAPI) documentation experience. Bonus: Familiarity with AI/ML tools (PyTorch, TensorFlow, LangChain, etc.). Located in the San Francisco Bay Area (on-site collaboration preferred). You Are A builder who thrives in early-stage environments. Comfortable switching between backend work and AI/ML experimentation. Energized by ownership — you see problems, you solve them. Excited by the mission of protecting people and infrastructure from wildfires. Why Torch Mission with real-world impact. Significant ownership of your work. Small, elite team backed by top-tier VCs. Path to becoming Lead AI Engineer as we scale our data and AI stack.