Backend Engineer in London

Backend Engineer in London

London Full-Time 50000 - 60000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Augur Initiative

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Design and build robust backend systems for real-time operational intelligence.
  • Company: Join Augur, a privacy-first tech company transforming sensor systems.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace committed to empowering exceptional talent.
  • Why this job: Be part of a small team shaping engineering culture in a rapidly scaling organisation.
  • Qualifications: Experience with Rust, Python, and a passion for continuous learning.

The predicted salary is between 50000 - 60000 £ per year.

About Augur

Augur transforms legacy sensor systems into real-time operational intelligence. We help organisations act before threats escalate – not after damage is done. Everything we build is privacy-first by design. Our platform connects to existing cameras and sensors to detect threats, retrace events, and surface real-time insights – all without replacing a single device. Augur helps teams reduce risk, cut costs, and grow revenue through better visibility, faster decisions, and fewer blind spots.

Our culture is built on a foundation of radical candor and mutual trust. We recognise that being an industry leader requires more than just building exceptional products – it requires empowering a team of exceptional people. Individually, we operate with high autonomy; collectively, we’re unified by a shared drive to achieve our mission through a commitment to excellence.

The Role

We’re looking for an early stage engineer who pairs strong software skills with an ambitious, exploratory mindset aligned towards continuous learning and growing their impact. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Augur Engineering team at a pivotal moment — we’re a small team within a rapidly scaling organisation, so we each play a role in shaping Augur’s engineering culture, practices, and foundations as we grow.

We are looking for a Backend Engineer who can design and build the distributed systems, storage infrastructure, and platform primitives that underpin Augur's sensor integration product. You'll work across the full backend surface: from stream processing and storage, to API design, data pipelines, and service architecture, in a Rust stack with Python at the platform API boundaries.

You'll be responsible for building robust, well-abstracted systems that scale with the demands of a growing integration and customer base, with ambitions of petabyte-scale data storage. You'll own meaningful architectural decisions and be expected to reason clearly through unfamiliar problem domains under real constraints.

Core Skills

  • Core technologies: Rust, with Python at some API boundaries. Kafka, PostgreSQL/TimescaleDB/PostGIS, gRPC/protobuf, and Kubernetes. Candidates are not expected to have experience with all of these, but adjacent understanding is crucial.
  • Systems thinking: Comfortable designing and operating production systems under real constraints— zero-downtime migrations, complex tradeoff analysis, and the kind of pragmatic decision-making that keeps services reliable as requirements shift.
  • Software craft: Writes clean, well-structured code with good use of abstractions, namespaces, and interfaces. Opinionated about code review processes and culture.
  • Reasoning under uncertainty: Can pick up unfamiliar systems and make sound architectural decisions without a complete picture.
  • AI-assisted development: Fluent with LLM-assisted workflows and confident both steering AI tooling toward high-quality output and knowing which problems are better solved by humans.
  • Collaboration: Experience or appetite for cross-team communication; comfortable seeking out context independently and building features with limited top-down instruction.

Desirable

  • Prior experience with large-scale data infrastructure, i.e. distributed storage, sharded databases, high-throughput pipelines. Bonus if you've built your own or have experience with the primitives for building your own, e.g. sharding libraries, consistent hashing, data-parallel dataflow computation, etc.

Accessibility and inclusivity

At Augur, our culture is built on radical candor and mutual trust. To solve the complex, physical-world problems our customers face, we need a team that thinks differently. Whether you’re self-taught, have a non-traditional background, or are returning to the workforce, if you have the grit and the experience we’re looking for at Augur, we’d love to hear from you. We are committed to fostering a diverse workplace and ensuring an accessible hiring experience - please let us know if you require any accommodations during the interview process to help you do your best work.

Backend Engineer in London employer: Augur Initiative

At Augur, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of radical candor and mutual trust. As a Backend Engineer, you'll have the opportunity to work in a dynamic environment where your contributions directly shape our engineering practices and culture. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, autonomy, and inclusivity, Augur offers a unique chance to be part of a rapidly scaling organisation that values innovation and collaboration, all while making a meaningful impact in real-time operational intelligence.
Augur Initiative

Contact Detail:

Augur Initiative Recruiting Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫

We think this is how you could land Backend Engineer in London

✨Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with current employees at Augur. A friendly chat can sometimes lead to opportunities that aren’t even advertised!

✨Tip Number 2

Show off your skills! Build a small project or contribute to open-source that showcases your backend engineering prowess, especially using Rust and Python. This gives you something tangible to discuss during interviews.

✨Tip Number 3

Prepare for those technical interviews! Brush up on systems design and be ready to tackle real-world problems. Think about how you’d approach building scalable systems and be ready to share your thought process.

✨Tip Number 4

Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the Augur team!

We think you need these skills to ace Backend Engineer in London

Rust
Python
Kafka
PostgreSQL
TimescaleDB
PostGIS
gRPC
protobuf
Kubernetes
Systems Thinking
Software Craft
Reasoning Under Uncertainty
AI-assisted Development
Collaboration
Large-scale Data Infrastructure

Some tips for your application 🫡

Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV reflects the skills and experiences that align with the Backend Engineer role. Highlight your experience with Rust, Python, and any relevant technologies like Kafka or PostgreSQL. We want to see how you can contribute to our mission!

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to show us your personality and passion for the role. Share why you're excited about working at Augur and how your background makes you a great fit. Don’t forget to mention your approach to problem-solving and collaboration!

Showcase Your Projects: If you've worked on any relevant projects, whether personal or professional, make sure to include them in your application. We love seeing practical examples of your skills in action, especially if they involve large-scale data infrastructure or innovative solutions.

Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way to ensure your application gets into the right hands. Plus, it shows us you’re serious about joining our team at Augur!

How to prepare for a job interview at Augur Initiative

✨Know Your Tech Stack

Familiarise yourself with the core technologies mentioned in the job description, especially Rust and Python. Brush up on your understanding of Kafka, PostgreSQL, and Kubernetes. Being able to discuss how you've used these technologies or similar ones in past projects will show that you're ready to hit the ground running.

✨Showcase Your Systems Thinking

Prepare examples that demonstrate your ability to design and operate production systems under real constraints. Think about times when you had to make tough decisions regarding zero-downtime migrations or trade-offs in system design. This will highlight your problem-solving skills and your pragmatic approach to engineering.

✨Emphasise Collaboration Skills

Since Augur values cross-team communication, be ready to share experiences where you successfully collaborated with others. Discuss how you seek out context independently and how you’ve built features with limited guidance. This will show that you can thrive in a dynamic, autonomous environment.

✨Demonstrate Continuous Learning

Express your enthusiasm for continuous learning and growth. Share any recent projects or courses you've undertaken to improve your skills, especially in AI-assisted development or large-scale data infrastructure. This aligns perfectly with Augur's culture of empowerment and ambition.

Backend Engineer in London
Augur Initiative
Location: London

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