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Role description

Backend Performance Engineer

LiteLLM logoLiteLLMYC W23
TypeFull-time
WorkplaceRemote
SponsorshipNo visa sponsorship
LocationSan Francisco, CA
Engineering

TLDR

LiteLLM is an open-source LLM Gateway with 28K+ stars on GitHub and trusted by companies like NASA, Rocket Money, Samsara, Lemonade, and Adobe. We’re rapidly expanding and seeking a performance engineer to help scale the platform to handle 5K RPS (Requests per second). We’re based in San Francisco.

What is LiteLLM

LiteLLM provides an open source Python SDK and Python FastAPI Server that allows calling 100+ LLM APIs (Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, VertexAI, Cohere, Anthropic) in the OpenAI format

We just hit $2.5M ARR and have raised a $1.6M seed round from Y Combinator, Gravity Fund and Pioneer Fund. You can find more information on our website, Github and Technical Documentation.

About the Role

We're hiring a Python performance engineer to own maximizing throughput, minimizing latency and ensuring our platform is reliable in production.

Roadmap for Performance Engineer:

  • By end of this year our RPS and latency overhead should be at parity with industry benchmarks. Cover stream + non-stream for /chat/completions, /completions, /embeddings, /realtime, /audio/transcriptions
    • Reduce e2e overhead latency for cache misses. Currently at 100ms-500ms - ensure we meet industry standards.
    • Reduce e2e overhead latency for cache hits - ensure we meet industry benchmarks.
    • Ensure overhead latency scales well when other components are added to the platform - e.g Redis, Redis Cluster, DB, Non-Admin Virtual Keys
    • Ensure overhead latency scales well with payload size - 1MB prompt with streaming should be sub 100ms
  • Address customer specific and pipeline specific latency issues.
    • e.g. Enterprise customers reporting high overhead - this person should be able to debug these issues, get on support calls and help address any environment specific settings.
  • Address paying customer memory leaks
    • Enterprise clients have ongoing memory leaks that need resolution
  • Longer term - should add coverage over new endpoints - /realtime, /audio/transcriptions/, /audio/speech

Relevant archetypes

Apply on Y Combinator
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Company info

LiteLLM logo

LiteLLM

The industry-standard AI Gateway platform for models, agents, and MCPs.

One governed platform for AI access, cost management, and guardrails across every model, agent, and MCP in your organization. LiteLLM is the foundation teams worldwide rely on to manage and scale their entire AI program. Backed by Y Combinator with 55k+ GitHub stars.

Private companyYC W23AI-productOpen source
Founded2023
HQSan Francisco, United States
Size11–50 employees
IndustrySoftware Development
Investors
Y CombinatorGravity FundPioneer Fund

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