Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s human and AI-powered work marketplace that connects businesses with highly skilled, AI-enabled independent talent from across the globe. From entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 enterprises, companies rely on Upwork’s trusted platform and its mindful AI companion, Uma, to find and hire expert talent, leverage AI-powered work solutions, and drive business transformation. With on-demand access to professionals spanning more than 10,000 skills across AI & machine learning, software development, sales & marketing, customer support, finance & accounting, and more, Upwork enables businesses of all sizes to scale, innovate, and build agile teams for the age of AI and beyond.
Upwork’s platform has facilitated more than $25 billion in economic opportunity for talent around the world. Learn more at Upwork.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.
You’ll participate in building the next generation of AI-powered matching and recommendation infrastructure for Upwork. This is an early-stage effort focused on moving from smart recommendations to agentic and autonomous matchmaking. You’re optimizing for:
- System-level thinkers comfortable working in ambiguity
- Execution across backend, frontend, and architecture
- Curiosity and adaptability in a novel technical space
- Interest in AI-powered programming and foundational knowledge of LLMs
- Flexibility in tooling, with strongly preferred but non-mandatory tech: Java (backend) and Vue (frontend
This is a contract position with the potential for contract renewal based on project needs and accomplishment toward deliverables.
Responsibilities:
- Design and implement core systems for AI-powered matchmaking, integrating frontend, backend, and agentic workflows;
- Own architectural decisions and collaborate on long-term platform direction;
- Lead planning, scoping, and execution of feature initiatives in partnership with product management;
- Organize and manage cross-functional engineering work (without people management responsibilities);
- Mentor engineers and uphold technical quality in and across teams.
Must-Haves (Required Skills):
- 8+ years full-stack or mixed backend/frontend engineering experience;
- Experience architecting and shipping complex systems with ML, search, or recommendation components;
- Comfort working in ambiguity and driving clarity across stakeholders;
- Strong sense of ownership and ability to organize and deliver multi-sprint initiatives;
- Interest in AI-powered development and foundational knowledge of LLMs;
- Very strong communication skills in English.
Preferred Tech Exposure:
- Java backend systems;
- Python backend systems;
- Vue, React or modern JS frontend frameworks;
- Cloud-native infrastructure and infrastructure-as-code.
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