At a Glance
- Tasks: Build reliable backend systems for innovative legal services using AI.
- Company: Join Alaro, an AI-native law firm revolutionising the legal industry.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity, and unlimited budget for AI tools.
- Other info: Remote-first culture with annual offsite gatherings and a small, dynamic team.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Experience in backend engineering, Python, and designing scalable systems.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
About Alaro
Alaro is building the next generation of legal services. We’re an AI-native law firm, built from day one around AI and data. Legal is a trillion-dollar global industry that still operates as if software never happened. Lawyers spend too much time on low-leverage work and too little on judgment, reasoning, and outcomes. AI is now rapidly realigning what’s possible. We believe AI doesn’t replace legal judgment - it replaces the operating model around it. Firms that rebuild around this shift will define the next era of legal services; others will struggle to justify their costs as AI reshapes client expectations.
We started Alaro in April 2025 and raised a $2M pre-seed followed by an $7M seed led by a tier-1 US VC. Our product is used daily by our own lawyers on real cases, creating a tight feedback loop between product and practice. With early customers and a world-class engineering team taking shape, it’s still day one - come build with us.
How we work
- We move fast, then solidify: We ship early to get real work into lawyers’ hands, then invest in stabilizing and improving what matters. Progress beats polish, but quality is non-negotiable.
- High ownership, flexible schedules: We care about outcomes. You’re trusted to manage your time and take responsibility for what you ship, closing loops when things break.
- AI-native by default: We use AI everywhere, not just in the product. Our codebase and workflows are designed so humans and agents work together.
- Remote-first, globally aligned: We work as a distributed team, stay tightly aligned through regular syncs, and get together in person when it matters.
What we offer
- Meaningful ownership: Competitive salary and meaningful equity, with real responsibility and impact from day one.
- Small team, real impact: You’ll work closely with founders and a small group of senior engineers, shaping core systems, culture, and how the company operates as it grows.
- AI-first tooling: An unlimited budget for AI coding agents and tools. We expect you to use them heavily, and we design our systems so they can actually help.
- Time together that matters: We bring the whole company together once a year for an offsite in Alaro (Mallorca), and regularly gather the team in one of our offices to align, whiteboard, and plan in person.
About the Role
You will build the backend systems that make Alaro’s product reliable, extensible, and safe to use in real legal work. These systems power everything lawyers see and trust: documents, matters, permissions, agent actions, and the workflows that tie them together. At a high level, we are building a Cursor-like environment for legal work, where lawyers collaborate with agents that can search, reason, and act on documents, while remaining auditable, reversible, and correct. The backend defines what is possible here, and what is safe.
This is a product-first backend engineering role. To succeed, you’ll need to understand the full product surface and agent behavior, so you can design systems that evolve quickly without breaking under real-world usage.
What you’ll build
- Core product APIs: design and evolve the APIs that power the lawyer dashboard: matters, documents, chats, permissions, and email integration, so legal work stays coherent across tools, collaborators, and time.
- Data models and pipelines: define and maintain data structures that support evolving product and agent workflows, including document state, provenance, permissions, and history. You’ll think carefully about boundaries, migrations, and long-term extensibility.
- Agent-facing backend surfaces: build the primitives that let agents safely operate in the system: scoped permissions, state transitions, execution boundaries, and backend objects that unlock new tools and workflows without sacrificing control.
- Infrastructure and reliability: own backend systems in production. Contribute to deployments, observability, performance, and cost awareness, while keeping the focus on product reliability rather than infrastructure for its own sake.
Who you are
We’re looking for backend engineers who care deeply about building systems that work in production and continue to work as products evolve. You take ownership end to end, are comfortable with ambiguity, and enjoy designing systems that other engineers and agents can build on safely.
You’ll thrive at Alaro if you:
- Ship production backend systems with high ownership and follow them through when they break.
- Design data models and APIs that evolve quickly without constant rewrites.
- Are comfortable building in Python across application logic, data engineering, and light infrastructure work.
- Can translate ambiguous product goals into reliable systems that real users depend on.
- Are excited to build the backend foundations that enable powerful product and agent workflows.
Location
We work remote-first with a preference for time zone overlap between GMT-5 and GMT+1. You can also choose to work from our offices in London or New York.
Product Engineer (Backend) in London employer: Alaro
At Alaro, we are redefining the legal landscape with our AI-native approach, offering a dynamic and innovative work environment that prioritises meaningful ownership and impactful contributions from day one. Our remote-first culture fosters flexibility and collaboration, while our commitment to using cutting-edge AI tools empowers engineers to build reliable systems that directly influence the future of legal services. Join us in a small, agile team where your work will shape the core of our product and culture, all while enjoying the unique opportunity to connect with colleagues during our annual offsite in beautiful Mallorca.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Product Engineer (Backend) in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the legal tech space, especially those who are already at Alaro or similar companies. A friendly chat can open doors and give you insights that a job description just can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you've got a portfolio or GitHub with relevant projects, make sure to highlight them during interviews. We love seeing how you tackle real-world problems, especially in backend systems.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical challenges! Brush up on your Python skills and be ready to discuss how you've designed APIs or data models in the past. We want to see your thought process and how you handle ambiguity.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you're genuinely interested in being part of our team at Alaro.
We think you need these skills to ace Product Engineer (Backend) in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for AI and Legal Tech:When writing your application, let us know why you're excited about the intersection of AI and legal services. Share any relevant experiences or projects that highlight your enthusiasm for this innovative field.
Tailor Your Application to Our Needs:Make sure to align your skills and experiences with the specific requirements mentioned in the job description. Highlight your backend engineering expertise and how it relates to building reliable systems for legal work.
Be Clear and Concise:We appreciate straightforward communication. Keep your application clear and to the point, focusing on your key achievements and how they relate to the role. Avoid jargon unless it's relevant to the position.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application through our website. This ensures we receive all the necessary information and helps us keep track of your application efficiently. Plus, it’s super easy!
How to prepare for a job interview at Alaro
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you’re well-versed in backend systems, especially in Python. Brush up on your knowledge of APIs, data models, and how they evolve over time. Being able to discuss your past projects and how they relate to Alaro’s mission will show that you’re the right fit.
✨Understand the Product
Dive deep into Alaro’s product and its AI-native approach. Familiarise yourself with how their systems work and think about how you can contribute to making them more reliable and extensible. This will help you answer questions about how you can add value from day one.
✨Show Ownership Mindset
Alaro values high ownership, so be prepared to discuss times when you took responsibility for a project or solved a problem. Highlight your ability to manage your time effectively and how you’ve handled challenges in production environments.
✨Ask Insightful Questions
Prepare thoughtful questions about Alaro’s engineering practices, team dynamics, and future goals. This not only shows your interest but also helps you gauge if the company culture aligns with your values. Think about how you can contribute to their remote-first, collaborative environment.
