Backend Engineer, Agent Tools

Build a Safer World.

TRM Labs provides AI-powered intelligence solutions that help public and private sector agencies investigate and disrupt crime. TRM's platforms enable investigators to trace illicit activity, build cases, and construct operating pictures of threat networks. Leading agencies and businesses worldwide rely on TRM to make the world safer and more secure.

Team & position summary

We are looking for a Software Engineer, API Integrations to join TRM’s AI Engineering team, focused on building the third-party integrations and scalable integration platform that power our AI-native products. You will design and ship reliable connectors, APIs, services, and integration infrastructure that allow TRM’s AI systems to access external data sources safely, quickly, and at scale.

In this role, you will work closely with engineers, product managers, data teams, and internal users to turn integration needs into production-grade systems. You will help improve the speed, quality, and reliability of how TRM connects to external intelligence sources, ultimately supporting our mission to build a safer financial system for the world.

The impact you will have:

• Design, build, and maintain third-party API integrations that power TRM’s Agentic products and workflows.

• Develop scalable integration infrastructure, shared services, and internal tooling that make it faster and safer to add new data sources.

• Build reliable APIs, backend services, and data pipelines that support high-volume, mission-critical product experiences.

• Collaborate with product, engineering, data, and internal stakeholders to translate integration needs into clear technical roadmaps and measurable outcomes.

• Improve the quality, observability, reliability, and maintainability of TRM’s integration platform as usage grows across the business.

What we’re looking for:

• Experience designing and building scalable backend systems, APIs, web services, and production software.

• Strong understanding of third-party API integration patterns, including authentication, rate limits, retries, error handling, data normalization, and monitoring.

• Experience with storage systems such as relational databases, analytical databases, queues, caches, or event-driven architectures.

• Ability to work through ambiguity, structure complex problems, and identify the highest-impact technical priorities.

• Strong ownership mindset and comfort driving projects from vague requirements through production launch and iteration.

• Ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Experience working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment with product, design, data, infrastructure, and customer-facing teams.

• Experience with OSINT data sources a plus

• Experience with AI Production Systems a plus

About the Team:

• The AI Engineering team builds the systems, workflows, and infrastructure behind TRM’s AI-native products. This role sits on the team focused on third-party integrations and the scalable platform that enables TRM to connect to external data sources quickly, reliably, and securely.

• The team operates on a weekly sprint schedule. Engineers are expected to lead projects as technical anchors and are given opportunities to grow ownership according to their level and goals.

• We work closely with product, design, data platform, infrastructure, and customer-facing teams to deliver capabilities that directly impact customers and internal users.

• The team’s culture is built on psychological safety, high ownership, trust, accountability, and a bias toward shipping useful systems quickly.

• The team’s timezone is a mix of EST and PST, with at least 6 hours of overlap with PST, generally from 8 am to 2 pm PST.

• On-call: We have an on-call rotation that is approximately one week long and occurs once every 4–6 weeks. On-call work includes responding to PagerDuty alerts that warrant immediate attention and triaging customer or internal support requests from designated Slack channels.

Learn about TRM Speed in this position:

The team is often tasked with delivering critical integration work on tight timelines. In one example, a project initially estimated to take two months was delivered in two weeks by ruthlessly prioritizing, bringing in the right implementation support, and partnering with product to descope the first milestone while preserving immediate customer value. The project was able to deliver value quickly in sales conversations while the team continued to iterate on future milestones.

• Engineers at TRM are empowered to drive decision-making across product, design, and technical implementation. Rather than waiting days for alignment, engineers are expected to analyze tradeoffs, propose solutions, and move discussions toward clear decisions.

  The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:

  • Individual pay is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. The compensation details listed in this posting reflect the US base salary only.

  • The estimated base salary range for this role is $180,000 - $240,000.

  • Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.

  • Please note – we factor in the different costs for geographies outside the United States.

• TRM has a large group of internal power users who provide fast product feedback. When engineers identify a clear pain point from this group, they are empowered to ship targeted improvements directly to beta users without multiple layers of approval.

• In this role, speed means building integrations that are useful quickly, then hardening them into scalable, observable, and reusable platform capabilities as usage grows.

Application Instructions

If you’re interested in joining TRM, we encourage you to apply directly. Every application is reviewed by our Talent team.

Before applying, review the job description carefully and highlight the experience and impact that best demonstrate the required qualifications. Please also provide thoughtful and accurate answers to the application questions, as these will be used to evaluate your qualifications for the role.

If you send your resume directly to someone at TRM, we can’t guarantee it will reach the appropriate hiring team. Applying directly is the best way to ensure you’re considered.

What to Expect From Our Interview Process

Our process is designed to understand how you think, solve problems, and deliver impact, while giving you the opportunity to evaluate TRM. Most interview processes include a case study, AI skills assessment, and Leadership Principles interview.

• Recruiter Intro: Explore your experience, motivations, and alignment with the role.

• Hiring Manager: Dive deeper into your relevant experience, skills, and impact.

• First Round: Typically 1–2 interviews focused on the skills most critical to the role.

• Final Round: Typically 3–5 interviews to go deeper on your craft, problem-solving, and alignment with TRM.

• References: We’ll speak with former colleagues who can provide perspective on your work and impact.

• Offer: If it’s a mutual fit, your recruiter will walk you through your offer and answer your questions.

• Welcome to TRM: Once you sign, we’ll get you ready for your first day and onboarding.

Your recruiter will share your specific interview plan and preparation guidance along the way.

Learn more about interviewing at TRM

Life at TRM

We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day.

TRM moves quickly. We are a high velocity, high ownership team that expects clarity, follow-through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and continuous feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it will ship here in days.

Our work sits at the intersection of AI, national security, and fighting crime. The problems are complex, the stakes are real, and the environment evolves quickly. The pace and intensity of the work reflect the importance of the mission. As a result, the way we operate requires a high level of ownership, adaptability, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.

At TRM, you should expect:

• Priorities and targets to change quickly as we experiment and iterate

• Work that often requires operating with a high degree of ambiguity

• A high level of personal ownership and accountability

• Close collaboration across teams and functions

• Frequent, high-touch communication

• Creative problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking

• A pace that rewards urgency, adaptability, and outcomes

This environment is energizing for people who enjoy building, solving hard problems, and making progress in situations that are not always fully defined. It also requires comfort navigating ambiguity, adjusting course as new information emerges, and maintaining focus and positivity in a fast-moving and intense environment.

We also recognize that this style of operating is not for everyone. If you are primarily optimizing for predictability or a consistently balanced workload, we encourage you to use the interview process to pressure test whether this environment is truly the right fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.

At the same time, many people find this work deeply rewarding. If you are excited by meaningful problems, motivated by ambitious goals, and energized by working alongside mission-driven colleagues, there is a good chance you will find TRM to be an exceptional place to grow and contribute. Learn more: Interviewing at TRM: How We Hire and What Success Looks Like

 

AI Fluency at TRM

AI fluency is a baseline expectation at TRM.

We believe AI meaningfully changes how top performers operate. We expect every team member to use AI to accelerate and reimagine their craft, not just automate surface tasks.

At TRM, AI fluency means you are among the top 10 percent of operators in your function in how you apply AI to:

• Accelerate repeatable workflows

• Structure and solve problems

• Improve output quality

• Increase speed and leverage

You will be evaluated on applied AI fluency during the interview process.

Leadership Principles

We hire and grow against three leadership principles. They’re the standards for how we operate, treat each other, and make decisions.

• Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first and move with speed, focus, and adaptability. We treat every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly.

• Master Craftsperson: We care deeply about our craft. We balance speed with high standards, own outcomes end‑to‑end, and invest in getting better everyday.

• Inspiring Colleague: We add clarity and energy, not noise. We bring humility, candor, and a one‑team mindset — giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger.

Join our Mission

At TRM we care deeply about our craft. We are looking for individuals who want their work to matter, who experiment with speed and rigor, and who take pride in building a safer world for billions of people. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, we encourage you to apply — we hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.

TRM is a Series C company with $220M in total funding, backed by Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, TRM operates as a distributed-first company with hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Singapore.

Privacy Policy and Additional Information

By submitting your application, you agree to allow TRM Labs to process your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

We collect the information you provide (such as your resume, work history, and contact details) solely for the purpose of evaluating your candidacy for current and future roles at TRM.

Because our hiring cycles for certain positions may span 24 to 36 months, we retain your personal information for up to 36 months from the date of your application. After that period, your data is deleted unless a different retention period is required or permitted by law.

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with applicable data protection laws, you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data at any time before that period ends. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@trmlabs.com.

To notify TRM Labs that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

The use of AI tools of any kind (including but not limited to notetakers, interview assistants, and real-time coaching tools such as Otter.ai, Fireflies, Fathom, Cluey, or similar) during TRM interviews is not permitted without prior approval from TRM. TRM uses its own internal tools for note-taking to ensure a consistent and confidential experience for all candidates.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this form.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.

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