Lead Backend / Full Stack Engineer

JOB SUMMARY We’re looking for a hands-on senior engineer who has taken full architectural ownership of enterprise software, someone who designs and builds complete, standalone applications end-to-end, including the database layer, third-party integrations, and enterprise-grade security and governance controls, rather than someone who has mainly worked on top of an existing managed data or ML platform. Genuine, hands-on experience operating a live, production-scale AI system is essential, including responsibility for its reliability, monitoring, incident response, and ongoing improvement, rather than experience limited to early-stage prototyping. This is a hands-on leadership role: part lead architect, part product owner, part governance lead. You’ll own the product’s architecture from the ground up while also bringing hands-on experience training Small Language Models (SLMs) and directing a developer focused on that work. You’ll be the technical anchor for the product — setting direction, challenging the roadmap where needed, and ensuring the system is secure, reliable, and built to scale for enterprise customers. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES Take full ownership of the technical direction of the agentic AI productArchitect and build the product end-to-end, including designing and directly owning the core database layer, rather than relying on a pre-built or managed data platformBuild and own the integration layer connecting to third-party enterprise systems, including authentication protocols, webhooks, rate limiting, inconsistent vendor behaviour, and API versioningOwn the event-driven architecture underpinning the platform’s core workflow and orchestration engine, including queues, workflow orchestration, and idempotencyImplement enterprise-grade controls — role-based access control, single sign-on, audit logging, tamper-evident record-keeping, and self-hosted/on-premises deployment (Docker/Kubernetes), to meet the product’s data sovereignty requirementsEmbed application security into every layer of the architecture, from code to deploymentTake ownership of the operational reliability of the live system — monitoring, incident response, and ongoing improvement, not just feature deliveryEstablish and enforce governance operations — data handling, model behaviour, access controls, and change managementLead a small technical pod, including directing and reviewing the work of a developer focused on training the company’s Small Language ModelsBring genuine business acumen to technical decisions — balancing customer needs, cost, and delivery timelinesManage requirements and delivery through Jira, maintain the codebase in GitHub, and coordinate UI build-out via LoveableProduce clear, thorough documentation for architecture, processes, and product decisionsAct as the primary technical point of contact for leadership and the incoming customer base QUALIFICATIONS Proven, senior-level experience designing, building, and owning production software end-to-end — this is not an entry- or mid-level roleTrack record delivering and operating complete, standalone enterprise applications, rather than building features on top of an existing managed data or ML platformDeep, hands-on experience designing and directly operating a relational database layer (Postgres)Proven experience building integrations against third-party enterprise systems — covering authentication protocols, webhooks, rate limiting, inconsistent vendor behaviour, and versioning — this is one of the most important differentiators for this roleStrong background in event-driven systems — queues, workflow orchestration, and idempotencyHands-on experience implementing RBAC, SSO, audit logging, tamper-evident record-keeping, and self-hosted/on-premises deployment (Docker/Kubernetes) — essential given the product’s data sovereignty requirementsA security-first mindset — able to proactively identify and mitigate application security risks, embedding security into every layer of the architectureExperience with Claude Code, Postgres, and Rust (or a strong typed-language background with a demonstrated ability to ramp up quickly across this stack)Genuine, hands-on experience building and operating a production-grade AI or agentic system — including ownership of reliability, monitoring, incident response, and ongoing improvement, rather than experience limited to early-stage prototypingHands-on experience training Small Language Models (SLMs)Strong working knowledge of enterprise-class systems: scalability, reliability, and security at production scaleTrack record of leading or mentoring other engineersComfortable challenging specifications and proposing alternative approaches, rather than simply executing requirements as givenSolid project management skills — able to plan, prioritise, and deliver against timelines with minimal oversightStrong documentation habits and excellent written and verbal communicationFamiliarity with GitHub, Jira, and ideally LoveableProduct-minded: comfortable thinking about the end customer, not just the code