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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design and scaling of our data platform for energy companies.
- Company: Join Gorilla, a leader in high-performance SaaS solutions for the energy transition.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible work options, mentorship opportunities, and a collaborative culture.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on the energy sector while growing your technical skills.
- Qualifications: Expertise in Python, distributed systems, and experience with cloud platforms like AWS.
- Other info: Be part of a team that values innovation and strategic thinking.
The predicted salary is between 43200 - 72000 £ per year.
Join us at Gorilla and help shape the digital backbone of the energy transition. As a Lead/Staff Backend Engineer, you'll play a pivotal role in designing and scaling our data platform, powering key decisions for energy companies worldwide. We're committed to delivering high-performance, data-intensive SaaS solutions that help our clients maximize ROI and accelerate their path to net-zero. You’ll work at the intersection of deep technical expertise and strategic thinking, contributing not only to our product architecture but also to how we build and scale our engineering culture.
What you’ll do:
- As a Staff Engineer in our Platform team, you’ll be a technical leader responsible for evolving and scaling the core API and data systems that support our pricing, forecasting, and analytics applications.
- You’ll balance hands-on development with strategic contributions across teams.
- Your responsibilities will include:
- Lead architectural decisions across the platform, ensuring scalability, reliability, and performance in high-load, data-heavy environments.
- Drive cross-functional technical initiatives that have a broad impact across the product, working closely with Product Managers, Designers, and fellow Engineers.
- Mentor and support other engineers, fostering technical growth and best practices through design reviews, pair programming, and knowledge sharing.
- Design and build distributed systems that handle complex workflows and large volumes of energy data efficiently and securely.
- Take ownership of critical components, ensuring they evolve with the needs of the business and maintain a high bar for quality and resilience.
- Influence technical direction and culture, helping shape how we build systems and collaborate as a team.
- Contribute to strategic planning, helping define roadmaps and long-term technical vision in partnership with engineering and leadership.
What we’re looking for:
- Expertise in Python, with a strong command of modern software design patterns, testing practices, and performance optimization.
- Extensive experience with relational databases and data modeling for high-throughput systems.
- Deep understanding of distributed systems design and the trade-offs involved in consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
- Proven track record of working on data-intensive and high-load backends, ideally within SaaS environments.
- Familiarity with cloud platforms, especially AWS, and experience with infrastructure-as-code and container orchestration.
- Strong architectural intuition and ability to drive clarity in ambiguous, complex technical situations.
- Leadership experience through mentoring, leading initiatives, or shaping engineering practices across teams.
- Experience in defining and improving DevOps pipelines, observability, and platform reliability.
- Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset—able to build alignment across stakeholders.
- Proactive and pragmatic: able to balance technical excellence with delivery impact.
Lead/Staff Backend Engineer employer: Gorilla
Contact Detail:
Gorilla Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead/Staff Backend Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with the latest trends in backend engineering, particularly around Python and distributed systems. This will not only help you understand the technical requirements of the role but also allow you to engage in meaningful conversations during interviews.
✨Tip Number 2
Showcase your leadership experience by preparing examples of how you've mentored other engineers or led cross-functional initiatives. Highlighting these experiences can demonstrate your ability to influence technical direction and culture at Gorilla.
✨Tip Number 3
Research Gorilla's current projects and challenges in the energy sector. Being knowledgeable about their work will enable you to discuss how your skills can directly contribute to their goals, especially in scaling data platforms and improving performance.
✨Tip Number 4
Prepare to discuss your experience with cloud platforms, particularly AWS, and how you've implemented infrastructure-as-code. This is crucial for demonstrating your capability to handle the technical demands of the role effectively.
We think you need these skills to ace Lead/Staff Backend Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV highlights your expertise in Python, experience with relational databases, and any leadership roles you've held. Use specific examples that demonstrate your ability to design and scale data platforms.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: In your cover letter, express your passion for the energy transition and how your technical skills align with Gorilla's mission. Mention your experience with distributed systems and how you can contribute to their engineering culture.
Showcase Relevant Projects: Include details about past projects that involved high-load backends or SaaS solutions. Highlight your role in architectural decisions and any mentoring you provided to other engineers.
Prepare for Technical Questions: Anticipate questions related to modern software design patterns, performance optimization, and cloud platforms like AWS. Be ready to discuss your approach to balancing technical excellence with delivery impact.
How to prepare for a job interview at Gorilla
✨Showcase Your Technical Expertise
Be prepared to discuss your experience with Python and modern software design patterns. Highlight specific projects where you've optimised performance or tackled complex problems, especially in data-intensive environments.
✨Demonstrate Leadership Skills
Share examples of how you've mentored other engineers or led cross-functional initiatives. Companies value candidates who can foster growth and collaboration within teams, so be ready to discuss your approach to leadership.
✨Understand Distributed Systems
Brush up on your knowledge of distributed systems design, particularly the trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Be ready to discuss how you've applied this understanding in past roles, especially in high-load scenarios.
✨Communicate Effectively
Strong communication skills are crucial for this role. Practice articulating your thoughts clearly and concisely, especially when discussing technical concepts. Be prepared to explain your ideas to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
