Sword Health is on a mission to free two billion people from pain as the world’s first and only end-to-end platform to predict, prevent and treat pain.
With 67% of members achieving a pain-free life and a 70% reduction in surgery intent, at Sword, we are using technology to save millions for our 25,000 enterprise clients across three continents. Today, we hold the majority of industry patents, win 70% of competitive evaluations, and have raised more than $300 million from top venture firms like Founders Fund, Sapphire Ventures, General Catalyst, and Khosla Ventures.
Recognized as a Forbes Best Startup Employer in 2024, this award highlights our focus on being a destination for the best and brightest talent. Not only have we experienced unprecedented growth since our market debut in 2020, but we’ve also created a remarkable mission and value-driven environment that is loved by our growing team. With a recent valuation of $3 billion, we are in a phase of hyper growth and expansion, and we’re looking for individuals with passion, commitment, and energy to help us scale our impact.
Joining Sword Health means committing to a set of core values, chief amongst them to “do it for the patients” every day, and to always “deliver more than expected” on behalf of our members and clients.
This is an opportunity for you to make a significant difference on a massive scale as you work alongside 900+ (and growing!) talented colleagues, spanning three continents. Your charge? To help us build a pain-free world, powered by technology, enhanced by people — accessible to all.
At Sword, we are reimagining healthcare by combining cutting-edge AI/ML technology with personalized care. Our goal is to provide world-class clinical support at a scale never seen before - where each patient’s journey is as individualized as possible. As a Senior Backend Engineer on the AI Team, you will play a critical role in building, scaling, and optimizing the infrastructure that supports our ML-powered clinical features, decision support systems, and upcoming innovations in Generative AI.
You’ll work directly with cross-functional teams to ensure Sword’s products are robust, scalable, and secure, empowering both our internal and external users with seamless access to personalized, data-driven care.
If you’re a backend engineer eager to dive deep into AI, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

WHAT YOU NEED TO HAVE:

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• 5+ years of professional experience in backend engineering, with a focus on building scalable systems and services;

• Proficiency in Python as the primary language for our ML-powered systems, with hands-on experience in Python-based frameworks and libraries. If you’re not yet proficient but are highly motivated to learn, we’d love to hear from you as well! We value a strong willingness to grow and adapt;
• While Python will be at the heart of most of your work, you’ll also be involved in integrating with various external systems and services, which may require working with other technology stacks. We’re looking for someone who’s comfortable adapting and learning new tools as needed to drive these integrations;
• Solid experience working with databases (SQL and NoSQL) and optimizing complex queries and transactions;
• Proven experience in building and maintaining high-performance APIs;
• Strong understanding of software design patterns, microservices architecture, and cloud-native applications;
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, agile environment while handling multiple technical priorities and collaborating effectively across teams;
• Excellent problem-solving skills with an ability to break down complex tasks into manageable components.

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• Architect, design, and build backend systems that transform our internal AI technology into a scalable, market-ready product;

• Externalize our technology with a focus on reliability, performance, and real-world usability;
• Work side-by-side with the AI team to turn cutting-edge research into enterprise-ready solutions;
• Design and optimize APIs, database schemas, and data processing workflows that seamlessly integrate with our AI/ML pipelines;
• Develop backend architectures that enable the efficient deployment of machine learning models in production;
• Work closely with the AI and Data teams to design backend architectures that enable the effective deployment of machine learning models at scale;
• Collaborate with the Product, Data, and Engineering teams to define technical requirements and deliver features that enhance our users’ experience and overall system performance;
• Identify performance bottlenecks and scale our systems as our user base and data complexity grow;
• Drive key technical decisions on infrastructure, tools, and best practices in a fast-moving, collaborative environment;
• Mentor junior engineers, promote best practices, and advocate for a high standard of code quality and testing.