Senior Backend Engineer – Ruby on Rails

£90,000 – £100,000 | London | Hybrid – 1 day in office / 4 days from home We’re partnering with a fast-growing, product-led technology business to hire a Senior Backend Engineer into a high-performing engineering team. This is a genuinely hands-on Senior IC role. It isn’t a Team Lead position and there’s no expectation to move away from coding. Instead, we’re looking for an experienced engineer who can take ownership of complex backend problems, influence technical direction and make the engineers around them better. The business is continuing to scale its core platform, with Ruby on Rails sitting at the heart of the backend. As the product and customer base have grown, so have the engineering challenges around architecture, scalability, maintainability and where business logic should live. You’ll work on challenges including: Building and scaling production Ruby on Rails applicationsEvolving and improving an established Rails codebaseDesigning and maintaining robust internal and external APIsWorking extensively with PostgreSQL, including data modelling, queries and performanceBackground processing using SidekiqImproving testing, reliability and overall engineering standardsMaking pragmatic architectural decisions with long-term maintainability in mindWorking closely with Product to understand the customer impact behind technical decisionsOwning problems end-to-end rather than simply completing ticketsPairing, mentoring and sharing knowledge across the engineering teamThe wider environment also includes React / Next.js / TypeScript, Redis and AWS, so engineers who are comfortable occasionally moving beyond the backend will have plenty of opportunity to do so. What we're looking for You’ll have strong commercial experience building production systems with Ruby and Ruby on Rails, but this isn't simply about counting years on a CV. We’re particularly interested in engineers who can demonstrate: Strong Ruby/Rails backend engineeringGood PostgreSQL and SQL knowledgeExperience designing and scaling APIs and backend servicesStrong testing practices, ideally including RSpecAn understanding of architecture, scalability and maintainable software designExperience taking meaningful technical ownershipStrong collaboration with Product and other engineersA pragmatic approach to solving problems rather than over-engineering them Just as importantly, we’re looking for a low-ego force multiplier. That could mean improving engineering practices, mentoring through pairing, de-siloing knowledge, improving code-review culture, introducing better testing or simply helping the people around you become stronger engineers. You don't need a Lead title to demonstrate leadership. Package & working model Salary: £90,000 – £100,000 Location: Central London Hybrid: 1 day per week in the office / 4 days working from home Benefits include: 30 days' annual leave + bank holidays£1,000 annual learning & development budgetPrivate medical insurancePension contribution matched up to 6%MacBook ProHighly flexible hybrid working Interview process The process is designed to assess both technical ability and how you work with other engineers: Initial conversation → Ruby technical take-home → Technical discussion/review → Team & culture conversation The technical stages are as much about how you think, the decisions you make and the trade-offs you consider as simply reaching the correct answer. If you're an experienced Ruby engineer who wants to remain close to the code, solve meaningful scaling problems and have genuine influence over both the product and engineering culture, I'd love to hear from you. Apply directly or message me confidentially for further information - b.anthony@gravitasgroup.com