At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and build scalable backend services in Python, focusing on high-availability workloads.
- Company: Join a forward-thinking tech company with a collaborative and innovative culture.
- Benefits: Competitive pay, flexible working options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with excellent career advancement potential.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by working on cutting-edge technology and mentoring fellow engineers.
- Qualifications: Experience in backend development with Python and event-driven architectures is essential.
The predicted salary is between 43200 - 72000 £ per year.
SC Clearance or eligibility for SC Clearance is essential. This is a full stack role but it does have a main focus on the backend. 3 month contract with scope to extend or go permanent.
Key Responsibilities
- Backend architecture & APIs (primary focus)
- Design and evolve scalable backend services in Python using FastAPI for high-availability, high-throughput workloads.
- Build well-versioned RESTful APIs aligned to OpenAPI/Swagger, with strong conventions for consistency, idempotency, and backward compatibility.
- Implement authentication and authorization using OAuth2/OIDC, session management, and fine-grained permissions.
- Design and maintain event-driven architectures and background processing pipelines (e.g. Celery, Redis Streams, Kafka) to enable scalable async workloads, retries, and fault-tolerant integrations.
- Design data models and optimise relational databases (PostgreSQL) for performance, partitioning, and horizontal scale.
- Introduce caching, rate limiting, and queuing to meet performance budgets and latency goals.
- Integrate with AI pipelines and model-serving endpoints, including streaming responses, async inference jobs, and robust error/retry semantics.
- Frontend contributions: Contribute to frontend features using React/Next.js, Tailwind, shadcn/ui, TypeScript as required.
- Work with product and design to take features end-to-end, from API through to UI.
- Help maintain a pragmatic frontend stack with a focus on shipping over perfection, without compromising on security.
- Infrastructure contributions: Ship services via Docker containers with clean, minimal builds.
- Contribute to IaC (Terraform/CloudFormation) and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions/Argo CD) alongside the DevOps team.
- Support cloud operations with sensible defaults, cost awareness, and environment promotion across dev/staging/prod.
- Security and reliability: Write secure, well-tested code (unit, integration, end-to-end) and uphold coding standards through code reviews.
- Contribute to logging, metrics, and alerting (Prometheus/Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch) for the services you build.
- Support compliance readiness (ISO 27001, GDPR) through secure-by-default design.
- Cross-functional and process: Collaborate closely with the engineering team, product and leadership to scope, sequence, and deliver outcomes.
- Translate product requirements into technical plans, breaking work into milestones with measurable success criteria.
- Mentor engineers on backend design, API ergonomics.
Qualifications, experience and skills
- SC Clearance or the ability to obtain SC (and later DV).
- Proven experience in professional software engineering, with a strong focus on backend development in Python and with event-driven architectures.
- Proven experience designing and operating production REST APIs with OpenAPI/Swagger.
- Comfortable working in a React/TypeScript codebase.
- Deep understanding of relational database design, indexing, performance tuning, and migrations (PostgreSQL).
- Proficiency with containerisation (Docker) and Git-based workflows.
- Familiarity with AWS core services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, ALB/ELB, ECR/ECS).
- Experience with API versioning, security, documentation strategies, and automated testing.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently with high ownership.
Soft skills
- High-agency engineer who owns outcomes end to end.
- Pragmatic, research-driven approach with a bias to ship and iterate.
- Clear communicator who can mentor, influence, and raise the bar for the team.
- Comfortable defining SLAs, making trade-offs explicit, and operating production systems.
Senior Backend Engineer employer: MarkIT Placements
Join a forward-thinking company that values innovation and collaboration, offering a dynamic work environment for Senior Backend Engineers. With a strong focus on employee growth, we provide opportunities for professional development and mentorship, ensuring you can thrive in your career. Located in a vibrant area, our culture promotes work-life balance and inclusivity, making it an excellent place to contribute to impactful projects while enjoying a supportive community.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Backend Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the tech industry, especially those who work in backend development. A friendly chat can lead to referrals or insider info about job openings that might not be advertised.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your backend projects, especially those using Python and FastAPI. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by brushing up on common backend questions and coding challenges. Practice explaining your thought process while solving problems, as this shows your approach to backend architecture and API design.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We love seeing candidates who are genuinely interested in joining our team. Plus, it’s a great way to ensure your application gets the attention it deserves.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Backend Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV highlights your backend experience, especially with Python and FastAPI. We want to see how your skills align with our needs, so don’t be shy about showcasing relevant projects!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Tell us why you’re excited about this role and how your experience with REST APIs and event-driven architectures makes you the perfect fit for our team.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, share examples of how you've tackled challenges in past projects. We love engineers who can think on their feet and come up with innovative solutions!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at MarkIT Placements
✨Know Your Tech Stack Inside Out
Make sure you’re well-versed in Python, FastAPI, and the other technologies mentioned in the job description. Be ready to discuss your experience with backend architecture, RESTful APIs, and event-driven systems. Brush up on your knowledge of PostgreSQL and Docker, as these will likely come up during technical discussions.
✨Prepare for Scenario-Based Questions
Expect questions that ask you to solve real-world problems or design scenarios. For instance, you might be asked how you would implement authentication using OAuth2 or how to optimise a database for performance. Practise articulating your thought process clearly and logically, as this will showcase your problem-solving skills.
✨Showcase Your Collaboration Skills
This role requires close collaboration with product and design teams. Be prepared to share examples of how you've worked cross-functionally in the past. Highlight any mentoring experiences you have, as they’ll want to see your ability to influence and raise the bar for the team.
✨Demonstrate Your Security Awareness
Given the emphasis on security and compliance, be ready to discuss how you ensure secure coding practices and what strategies you use for logging and monitoring. Familiarise yourself with ISO 27001 and GDPR principles, as these may be relevant to the role and could impress your interviewers.
