Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year
The Company
We're working with a highly successful, fast-scaling AI b2b FinTech transforming how data and workflows operate across global financial markets.
Following significant growth and Series C funding, they're now heavily investing in new products and international expansion.
The Role | Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year
This is a high-impact Staff Engineer position on the IC track, taking ownership of technical strategy and architecture across a complex, rapidly scaling engineering organisation.
Rather than owning a single product or feature set, you'll operate across multiple engineering teams, helping define the architecture and technical direction that underpins the company's next phase of growth.
You'll remain hands‑on when it matters, but your impact will extend far beyond your own code - setting engineering standards, solving complex architectural problems and aligning teams around a clear technical vision.
You'll be working across areas including:
- Designing and evolving large-scale backend and distributed systems
- Defining technical strategy across Platform, AI, Retrieval and shared engineering services
- Designing scalable APIs and shared platform capabilities
- Leading complex, cross-team technical initiatives from design through to production
- Improving reliability, scalability, observability and developer experience
- Working closely with AI and Retrieval teams across search, RAG and data-intensive systems
- Reducing architectural complexity and establishing common engineering patterns
- Contributing hands‑on to critical technical work while raising standards through design reviews and mentoring
- Using AI-assisted engineering to improve productivity and accelerate delivery
What We're Looking For | Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year
- Strong experience designing and building large-scale backend systems and distributed architectures
- Excellent systems design skills, with evidence of making significant architectural decisions
- Experience leading technically complex initiatives across multiple engineering teams
- Strong backend programming experience with Python or another modern backend language
- Strong experience with AWS, Kubernetes, APIs and modern cloud infrastructure
- Comfortable influencing engineering strategy without direct authority
- Able to move between high-level technical strategy and hands‑on engineering
- Strong communication skills with experience mentoring engineers and raising engineering standards
- Comfortable making pragmatic technical trade‑offs in complex, scaling environments
Experience with AI-powered systems, RAG, search platforms, retrieval systems or vector databases would be particularly valuable.
Experience as a Founding Engineer / CTO, building systems from scratch in an early‑stage environment, or modernising complex legacy systems would also be highly relevant.
What's On Offer | Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year
- Up to £165,000 base salary + equity
- Pension contribution matched up to 7%
- Private medical insurance
- Flexible hybrid or remote working
- Work abroad for up to 3 months per year
- 25 days' holiday + public holidays
- Professional learning & development budget
- 1-month paid sabbatical after 5 yearsSignificant influence over the architecture and technical direction of a rapidly scaling engineering organisation
Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year
This is an opportunity for a genuine Staff-level Backend / Platform Engineer who enjoys solving difficult systems problems, influencing architecture across multiple teams and remaining close enough to the code to lead by example.
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Staff Backend Engineer - Python, FastAPI | Architecture, Distributed Systems & AI | AI FinTech, Series C | London Hybrid or Remote | Up to £165k + Equity | Work Abroad 90 Days/Year employer: Owen Thomas | B Corp™
Join an innovative early-stage legaltech startup in Central/East London, where you'll be part of a dynamic team dedicated to making legal advice accessible through cutting-edge AI technology. With a strong funding base and rapid growth, this company offers a collaborative work culture that values autonomy and creativity, providing ample opportunities for personal and professional development. As a Senior Product Engineer, you'll have the chance to make a significant impact on both the product and the company's future while working in a vibrant city known for its tech scene.
