About Straia
At Straia, we’re building the AI-native intelligence layer for colleges and universities.
Today, colleges run on dozens of disconnected systems, forcing staff to spend hundreds of hours reconciling data, compiling reports, and tracking down insights. Straia changes that. We unify institutional data and layer on AI agents that answer questions, generate insights/visualizations, and automate repetitive workflows, transforming how colleges operate.
Over time, Straia will evolve into the core intelligence layer for institutional operations, where every function, from student advising to admissions to budgeting and resource planning, is supported by collaborative AI agents that understand each institution’s unique data landscape.
We recently raised our pre-seed from a16z Speedrun, Reach Capital, and JFF Ventures, and are now hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to help build the technical backbone of how institutions interact with their data.
The Role
As a Senior Engineer at Straia, you’ll work directly with a small team including directly with our CEO (Ryan) and CTO (Nikki) to design, build, and scale the core infrastructure of our platform.
This is a 0 → 1 opportunity to shape not just the product, but the engineering culture, architecture, and trajectory of the company. You’ll ship fast, make key technical decisions, and help define how AI can power the next generation of enterprise data intelligence.
We’re specifically looking for someone who consistently raises the bar. The kind of engineer whose default speed and judgment increase the velocity of everyone around them. If you thrive when expectations are high and the pace is fast, you’ll feel right at home 🙂
What You'll Do
- Build the core platform — architect and implement services spanning data ingestion, query orchestration, and agentic AI workflows
- Ship end-to-end features across our React + Node.js + Postgres stack, integrating directly with LLMs like GPT, Gemini, and Claude
- Scale infrastructure on GCP for performance, reliability, and data security
