Senior Backend Engineer

Location: Melbourne Contract: 3 months A fast-growing technology company is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer for a 3-month contract to lead workflow orchestration, SDK modernization, and microservices initiatives. Based in Melbourne with a hybrid working arrangement (home-based in Victoria, with on-site visits when project milestones demand), this role offers the opportunity to build automated workflows using Google Cloud Composer (Apache Airflow), construct high-performance services with FastAPI, and deploy cloud-native solutions across GCP (Cloud Run, Cloud Functions). Working as the core backend specialist, the consultant will design and optimise end-to-end data pipelines, drive the modernization of application SDKs and core microservices, and integrate backend workflows with BigQuery, Cloud Dataflow and Pub/Sub to process large-scale datasets. Key Responsibilities Serve as the core backend specialist leading the design, implementation, and optimization of end-to-end data pipelines and workflow orchestration using Google Cloud Composer (Apache Airflow).Drive software engineering initiatives to facilitate the seamless transition, integration, and continuous upgrade of application SDKs and core microservices across client ecosystems.Architect production-grade Python applications, write complex Airflow workflows/custom plugins, and build high-performance asynchronous microservices with FastAPI.Build cloud-native architectures on Google Cloud Platform, with expertise in Cloud Composer, Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, and containerization via Docker.Interface backend microservices and orchestration workflows with BigQuery, Cloud Dataflow, and Pub/Sub to process, manage, and transform large-scale datasets.Maintain robust Git-based CI/CD workflows for automated pipeline deployment, zero-downtime SDK releases, and seamless backend updates. Your Background Essential: 5+ years of experience in backend software engineering, data orchestration, and microservices architecture.Strong hands-on expertise with Google Cloud Composer / Apache Airflow, including workflow authoring, dynamic task generation, custom operators, and pipeline management.Mastery of Python 3.x, asynchronous programming, and modern frameworks (e.g. FastAPI, AsyncIO).Strong GCP foundation with hands-on experience across Cloud Composer, Cloud Run and Cloud Functions.Direct experience integrating microservices and orchestrated workflows with data pipelines, BigQuery, and Cloud Dataflow.Robust containerization skills using Docker for container creation, optimization, and deployment.Proven track record in SDK management, including API/SDK design, versioning, and seamless client integration.Proficiency in DevOps & CI/CD tools (Git, GitHub Actions, Cloud Build) for continuous deployment of code and orchestration workflows.Commitment to software quality through rigorous testing frameworks like pytest and automated integration tests. Desirable: Advanced Airflow/Composer mastery — experience managing enterprise-grade Airflow clusters, performance tuning, and building modular workflow frameworks.GCP certifications — Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer, Cloud Developer, or Cloud Architect.SDK publishing experience — practical experience publishing, versioning, and maintaining public or internal open-source SDK packages (e.g. PyPI packages).Enterprise modernization experience — modernizing legacy batch or monolithic systems into scalable, event-driven, orchestrated cloud microservices.Stream processing familiarity — Apache Beam, Pub/Sub, or Kafka for real-time and event-driven data architectures.Security & compliance familiarity — API and workflow security standards (OAuth2, OIDC, IAM, secret management, zero-trust frameworks).Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.