Contract: Staff Full-Stack Engineer

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential.  

 Last year, more than $3.8 billion of work was done through Upwork by skilled professionals who are gaining more control by finding work they are passionate about and innovating their careers. 

This is an engagement through Upwork’s Hybrid Workforce Solutions (HWS) Team. Our Hybrid Workforce Solutions Team is a global group of professionals that support Upwork’s business. Our HWS team members are located all over the world.

You’ll participate in building the next generation of AI-powered matching and recommendation infrastructure for Upwork. This is an early-stage effort focused on moving from smart recommendations to agentic and autonomous matchmaking. You’re optimizing for:

• System-level thinkers comfortable working in ambiguity
• Execution across backend, frontend, and architecture
• Curiosity and adaptability in a novel technical space
• Interest in AI-powered programming and foundational knowledge of LLMs
• Flexibility in tooling, with strongly preferred but non-mandatory tech: Java (backend) and Vue (frontend

This is a contract position with the potential for contract renewal based on project needs and accomplishment toward deliverables.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement core systems for AI-powered matchmaking, integrating frontend, backend, and agentic workflows;
• Own architectural decisions and collaborate on long-term platform direction;
• Lead planning, scoping, and execution of feature initiatives in partnership with product management;
• Organize and manage cross-functional engineering work (without people management responsibilities);
• Mentor engineers and uphold technical quality in and across teams.

Must-Haves (Required Skills):

• 8+ years full-stack or mixed backend/frontend engineering experience;
• Experience architecting and shipping complex systems with ML, search, or recommendation components;
• Comfort working in ambiguity and driving clarity across stakeholders;
• Strong sense of ownership and ability to organize and deliver multi-sprint initiatives;
• Interest in AI-powered development and foundational knowledge of LLMs;
• Very strong communication skills in English.

Preferred Tech Exposure:

• Java backend systems;
• Python backend systems;
• Vue, React or modern JS frontend frameworks;
• Cloud-native infrastructure and infrastructure-as-code.
  

Upwork is proudly committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. We never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.   

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