Scale Engineer

Software Engineer, Core Services

Software Engineer · Senior · Full Time

San FranciscoUSD 150k – 250k4mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Cursor is seeking a talented Software Engineer for its Core Services team to develop critical shared infrastructure that powers the company's AI-driven developer productivity tool. The ideal candidate will build scalable backend services, authentication systems, and webhook infrastructure that enable seamless integration and high-performance agent workflows.

Responsibilities

  • Authentication Infrastructure: Design and implement a scalable authentication architecture for a widely-used developer tool, ensuring robust security and access management.
  • Agent Backend Development: Own and optimize the infrastructure powering Cursor's agent workflows, focusing on end-to-end performance and reliability.
  • Webhook Management: Develop a high-throughput webhook server with robust retry mechanisms, dead-letter queues, and comprehensive observability.
  • Source Control Integration: Build resilient abstractions for source control provider integrations to maintain system stability across different third-party platforms.
  • System Reliability: Collaborate across teams to improve the entire user action to agent response pathway, addressing complex challenges in AI-powered development.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Backend Service Development

    Proven experience in building and operating critical backend services, including authentication systems, API gateways, and webhook infrastructure

  • Authentication Technologies

    Expertise in authentication frameworks such as OAuth, JWT, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

  • Architecture Design

    Strong understanding of event-driven architectures and platform service development

Education

  • Computer Science

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

Experience

  • Systems Engineering

    Demonstrated experience with agentic products or infrastructure, with strong opinions on system reliability and performance

  • Full Lifecycle Management

    Ability to own the complete lifecycle of production services from design to deployment and maintenance

Skills

Required

  • Backend Development

    Strong software engineering fundamentals with focus on creating clean, well-abstracted service architectures

  • System Design

    Ability to create well-defined service contracts and infrastructure that enables other engineers to build effectively

Preferred

  • AI Infrastructure

    Nice to have

    Experience with AI-driven development tools and agent-based systems

  • Cloud Services

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with modern cloud infrastructure and scalable service design

Tech stack

Languages

PythonGo

Frameworks

FastAPI

Databases

PostgreSQL

Tools

DockerKubernetes

Other

OAuthJWT

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 150,000 – 250,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Innovative Work Environment

    Opportunity to work in a flat, talent-dense organization that values creativity and spirited debate

  • Cutting-Edge Technology

    Work on groundbreaking AI-powered developer productivity tools

  • Professional Growth

    Challenging projects that push the boundaries of software engineering and AI integration

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Initial Screening

    Review of application and background

  2. 02

    Technical Interviews

    2-3 short technical interviews to assess engineering skills and problem-solving abilities

  3. 03

    Onsite Interview

    In-office interview involving a small project, team discussions, and meeting potential colleagues

Full posting

Original listing.

Our mission is to automate coding. The first step in our journey is to build the best tool for professional programmers, using a combination of inventive research, design, and engineering. Our organization is very flat, and our team is small and talent dense. We particularly like people who are truth-seeking, passionate, and creative. We enjoy spirited debate, crazy ideas, and shipping code.

About the Role

As a Software Engineer on the Core Services team at Cursor, you'll own the critical shared services that sit between our product surfaces and the infrastructure layer: auth, webhooks, and the backend systems that power agent workflows.

Cursor is redefining how developers write code, and your work is what makes that possible at scale. You'll build the systems that every product team depends on, ensuring they are reliable, well-abstracted, and ready for whatever comes next.

Example projects include...

  • Owning authentication: designing and implementing a scalable auth architecture that secures one of the most widely-used developer tools in the world.

  • Powering the agent backend: owning the infrastructure behind Cursor's agent workflows, optimizing for end-to-end performance and reliability as agents become central to the developer experience.

  • Building a robust webhook server: handling high-throughput event delivery with proper retry semantics, dead-letter queues, and observability so external integrations just work.

  • Hardening SCM integrations: building resilient abstractions over source control providers so Cursor stays rock-solid regardless of third-party conditions.

  • Driving end-to-end agent reliability: partnering with the client and inference teams to improve the full path from user action to agent response, closing the loop on one of the hardest problems in AI-powered development.

You may be a fit if

  • You have experience building and operating critical backend services, especially auth systems, API gateways, or webhook infrastructure.

  • You've worked on agentic products or infrastructure and have strong opinions on reliability and performance of complex multi-step systems.

  • You care deeply about clean abstractions, well-defined service contracts, and making it easy for other engineers to build on top of your work.

  • You have strong software engineering fundamentals and enjoy owning the full lifecycle of production services.

  • Experience with authentication/authorization frameworks (OAuth, JWTs, RBAC), event-driven architectures, or building developer-facing platform services is a plus.

Applying

If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach out to schedule 2-3 short technicals. After, we'll schedule an onsite in our office, where you'll work on a small project, discuss ideas, and meet the team.

#LI-DNI

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