Senior AI-Native Backend Engineer

About Livio

Livio is a Dubai-based hospitality and real estate group operating 800+ short-term rental properties under DET licensing, plus brokerage, interiors, property care, and a business centre. We are rebranding from Deluxe Holiday Homes to Livio with sub-brands across each vertical.

We operate seven production codebases serving short-term rentals, real estate sales, off-plan investments, owner portals, and internal operations. Stack is modern, focused, ship

The role

We need one strong engineer who can design databases, ship APIs, integrate third-party systems, and review code that AI produces. You will not be a CTO. You will not be a manager. You will be a craftsman with strong backend judgment and AI leverage.

Our stack is set: Next.js + TypeScript + PostgreSQL/Supabase + Vercel. AI writes most of our frontend. You spend 70% of your time on backend depth schema, APIs, integrations, security and 30% reviewing AI-generated UI.

What you will do

• Design and ship backend systems across Next.js + Supabase + Vercel.

• Review code produced by Claude Code before merge — especially security, auth, payment, and integration code.

• Design database schemas, API contracts, RLS policies, integration patterns.

• Integrate third-party APIs: Guesty, Breezeway, Stripe, ERPNext, Twilio, lead providers.

• Set up monitoring, error tracking, operational dashboards.

• Write tests: Playwright E2E for flows, Vitest for unit logic.

• Spot-check AI-generated frontend work and fix what is wrong.

• Push back when a technical decision is wrong — with evidence.
  

What you will NOT do

• Decide stack or vendors. Already decided.

• Manage other engineers. None yet, may grow later.

• Talk to investors or customers. Founder handles that.

• Run sprint ceremonies or write Jira tickets. We work async.

• Build entire UIs from scratch. Claude does most UI work.
  

Required

• Has shipped at least 2 production systems end-to-end.

• Daily TypeScript user. Comfortable with generics, discriminated unions, strict mode.

• Has shipped at least one production app on Next.js App Router.

• Strong PostgreSQL fundamentals — schema design, indexing, transactions, query optimization.

• Familiar with Supabase or willing to ramp in week 1 (RLS, auth, storage).

• Comfortable with third-party API integration including webhooks, signature verification, retry logic.

• Has done code review on a team. Comfortable rejecting code, asking for changes, explaining why.

• Operates well solo. Can scope, ship, and debug without a peer review buddy.

• Reads code carefully — line by line, not skim-and-approve.

• Public GitHub with recent activity, OR ready to demonstrate work in paid trial week.

• Strong written English. Async communication is our default.

• UAE-based, holding GCC residency, or has prior UAE/Gulf work experience.
  

AI fluency required

This is non-negotiable. We use Claude Code daily across every repo.

• Active user of Claude, Cursor, or similar AI coding tools. Can show specific examples in the interview.

• Reviews AI output critically. Catches hallucinated functions, wrong API versions, missing error handling.

• Can articulate where AI fails — outdated APIs, niche libraries, multi-file changes — not just where it succeeds.

• Familiar with prompt engineering basics. Knows how context windows, system prompts, and tool use work.

• Verifies AI suggestions against documentation before merging. Especially for security, auth, payment code.

• Comfortable that AI writes the majority of production code. If this raises concerns for you, this role is not the right fit.
  

Bonus

• Hospitality, real estate, or PropTech experience.

• Stripe integrations. Multi-tenant SaaS. PMS or CRM systems.

• Russian or Arabic language.
  

How we work

• Async-first. Slack + GitHub PRs. Few meetings.

• One concern per pull request.

• Plan-before-execute for any task touching multiple files.

• Production deploys via Vercel auto-deploy on main merge only.

• Direct, fast-moving culture. Bullet points over essays.
  

Compensation and benefits

• Private health insurance.

• Annual airfare per UAE labour law.

• Standard UAE benefits: gratuity, leave, public holidays.
  

Hiring process

• CV + GitHub review. 3 days.

• 30-minute intro call. Three AI fluency questions.

• Final call to review trial output together.

• Offer within 7 days of trial completion.

• Total time from application to offer: 3–4 weeks.

Requirements

Requirements:

• 4+ years backend or full-stack experience

• Shipped at least 2 production systems end-to-end

• Strong TypeScript (strict mode, production usage)

• Strong PostgreSQL (schema design, indexing, performance)

• Experience with Next.js (App Router)

• Experience with Supabase or similar backend-as-a-service

• API integration experience (webhooks, Stripe or similar, retries, auth)

• Has reviewed production code and rejected/approved PRs

• Comfortable working independently (async, no hand-holding)

• Strong experience using AI coding tools (Claude/Cursor) in real projects

• Able to verify AI-generated code against documentation