# Maze — Backend Engineer (AI Agents)

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Date found** | 2026-05-26 |
| **Company** | Maze |
| **Role** | Backend Engineer (AI Agents) |
| **Location** | Europe — fully remote |
| **Salary** | €100,000–€160,000 + 0.15%–0.2% equity |
| **Job URL** | [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mazehq/dc1cb28c-c866-4fba-a991-6ae8c7ad4128) |
| **Status** | Selected |

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## Company Research

> Full company record: [companies/Maze/company_overview.md](../companies/Maze/company_overview.md)

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Headquarters** | London, United Kingdom |
| **Founded** | 2024 |
| **Employees** | ~30 |
| **LinkedIn** | [linkedin.com/company/mazehq](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/mazehq) |
| **Website** | [mazehq.com](https://mazehq.com) |
| **Blog** | [mazehq.com/blog](https://mazehq.com/blog/) |

- **Product:** AI agents that investigate and remediate cloud security vulnerabilities autonomously — removing false positives, identifying high-risk issues, and providing mitigation actions to security teams.
- **Customers:** Enterprise security teams and CISOs managing cloud vulnerability backlogs — including 2 Fortune 200 companies and high-growth tech firms (Alloy, Contentful, Halcyon, Forge).
- **Notable:** Founded 2024 by Harry Wetherald, Adrian Jozwik, and Santiago Castineira (ex-Tessian, Elastic, Amazon); raised $31M total ($6M seed via Cherry Ventures + Tapestry VC, $25M Series A led by Theory Ventures); launched publicly June 2025. Named Cloud Security Segment Leader in 2025 Latio Report; deployed with 2 Fortune 200 companies.

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## Job Summary

**What they do:** Maze builds AI agents for cloud vulnerability management — agents investigate each vulnerability in context, remove false positives, and drive remediation at scale for enterprise security teams.

**The role:** Senior Backend Engineer as an early team hire, owning the design and scaling of the core AI Agent infrastructure end-to-end.

**Core work:**
- Architect and develop backend systems that support production agentic workloads (scalable, secure, maintainable)
- Build and scale complex AI Agents tackling cybersecurity vulnerability challenges
- Define coding standards, best practices, and documentation; prototype and iterate rapidly with product/design

**Stack:** Python · LangChain · LlamaIndex · LLM APIs · RESTful APIs · AWS · Docker · Kubernetes · CI/CD

**Work style:** Fully remote, Europe. Fast-paced startup environment (~30 people).

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## Score: 87%

| Dimension | Score | Justification |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic AI depth (25%) | 85% | Core product IS AI agents for cybersecurity — building and scaling agents that investigate, triage, and remediate vulnerabilities autonomously. Real agentic workloads, not rebranded ML; infrastructure angle is secondary to agent delivery. |
| Tech fit (25%) | 78% | Python ✅, LangChain/LlamaIndex ✅ (listed as plus), AWS ✅, Docker ✅, LLM APIs ✅; backend API/DB framing is lighter in Luca's ML-first profile; missing PyTorch, Claude/Anthropic APIs, CrewAI. |
| Remote fit (25%) | 100% | Fully remote Europe — no caveats. |
| Company culture fit (15%) | 90% | AI-native startup (product IS agents), 11–50 people, Series A ($31M, Theory Ventures), fast-moving, ex-Tessian/Elastic/Amazon founding team. Exactly the profile Luca targets. |
| IC/leadership balance (10%) | 78% | End-to-end IC ownership; mentoring mentioned only as future growth, not current requirement. |
| **Final (weighted)** | **87%** | No salary deduction (€100k floor = at target, no penalty applies). Strong on every dimension; main honest caveat is Backend Engineer title vs. ML/AI identity. |

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## Strengths

- AI-native company: the product IS AI agents — cybersecurity is the domain, agentic AI is the engine
- Salary range €100k–€160k + 0.15–0.2% equity: ceiling and equity are excellent at Series A stage; negotiate toward €130k+
- Fully remote Europe, 11–50 people — high autonomy, visible impact, direct access to founders
- LangChain/LlamaIndex listed (even if "a plus") — directly overlaps Luca's agentic stack
- Series A ($31M, Theory Ventures): well-capitalised, credible investors, not a pre-seed risk
- Luca's NDA cybersecurity ML role (2020–2024) — 4 years, 6 production AI systems — gives direct domain credibility that most candidates won't have
- Founding team ex-Tessian, Elastic, Amazon: high technical bar, not a low-standards startup

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## Weaknesses & Risks

- Role title is "Backend Engineer" — framing is backend systems supporting agents, not pure ML Scientist; positioning adjustment needed to avoid being screened by keyword filters
- 7+ years backend dev required: Luca's 10+ years total includes backend (DEPT, SIUrO) but career emphasis is ML/AI since 2020 — address directly in cover letter
- No mention of PyTorch, Claude/Anthropic APIs, or CrewAI in the JD — partial stack overlap
- Kubernetes listed as expectation — not in Luca's stated stack
- Founded 2024: early stage execution risk, though $31M and Fortune 200 customers de-risk significantly

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## Suggestions

- Lead with the NDA cybersecurity ML role (2020–2024): 6 production AI systems, text analysis platform with GenAI/Agentic AI — direct domain match
- Frame Fenergo agentic pipeline as backend-for-agents: API design, scalable extraction pipeline, end-to-end deployment
- Emphasise end-to-end ownership across POC → production — exactly the "development lifecycle" ownership they describe
- Ask about the specific agent architecture: which orchestration framework (LangChain/LangGraph?), how agents are deployed, what the infra stack looks like
- Clarify salary early: floor is €100k (below target), aim for €130k+ given the range and your seniority

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## Interview Tracker

| Stage | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applied | 2026-05-29 | |
| Recruiter screen | | |
| Technical interview | | |
| Final round | | |
| Offer / Outcome | | |