Lead Python Backend Engineer

Backend Engineer Qualifications Must Have Engineering Experience • 5+ years building and operating production backend systems. • Owns features end-to-end: design, implementation, testing, deployment, support. • Strong proficiency in Python. API & Service Design • Builds production APIs with a modern web framework (FastAPI or similar). • Comfortable with asynchronous programming and async/sync trade-offs. • Designs clear request/response contracts and validates inputs. Databases, Data Modeling, and Data Processing • Strong relational fundamentals: schema design, indexing, query performance. • Hands-on with an ORM (SQLAlchemy or equivalent) and writing non-trivial SQL. • Evolves production schemas safely via versioned migrations. • Builds data pipelines: ingest $B"*(J validate $B"*(J transform $B"*(J persist $B"*(J export. • Works fluently with tabular data (Excel, Parquet, CSV). Cloud & Delivery • Deploying and operating services on a cloud provider (Azure strongly preferred). • Containerization (Docker) and CI/CD pipelines. Nontechnical • Can clearly explain trade-offs to engineers and non-engineers. • Operates independently, but with frequent communication. Asks clarifying questions early and keeps team informed on progress and blockers. • Comfortable with ambiguity and drives problems to resolution.