Senior Backend Engineer

Senior Backend Engineer

Full-Time 60000 - 75000 £ / year (est.) On-site
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead backend system design and development for innovative marketing solutions.
  • Company: Join a global leader in digital marketing with a vibrant culture.
  • Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, wellness days, and great local discounts.
  • Other info: Collaborate across teams and grow your career in a supportive atmosphere.
  • Why this job: Make an impact with cutting-edge technology in a dynamic environment.
  • Qualifications: Experience in backend engineering and proficiency in Python or Node.js.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 75000 £ per year.

Publicis Media harnesses the power of modern media through leading agency brands and global accelerator PMX; immersive experience group PMCI and access to integrated platform-based technologies and offerings. Publicis Groupe’s digital-first, data-driven global solutions deliver client value and drive growth in a platform-powered world. It is present in over 100 countries with over 23,000 employees worldwide.

About the Department: Performics is the Performance Centre of Excellence within Publicis Groupe, delivering technology, data, and AI-driven marketing solutions for global brands. OneSuite is our unified marketing intelligence and automation platform powering workflows, data processing, analytics services, and channel automation across various domains. Backend engineering is foundational across all OneSuite — providing the APIs, integration layers, orchestration runtimes, and backend systems that power every charter.

About the Role: We are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer (Individual Contributor) to lead the design, development, and evolution of backend systems across OneSuite. This is a hands-on engineering role — you will write production-grade code, solve complex distributed systems problems, shape backend patterns, and guide other engineers through technical influence. As a Senior IC, you will help define service architecture, enforce engineering best practices, and collaborate across multiple charters to ensure OneSuite’s backend systems are scalable, reliable, secure, and performant.

What you’ll do:

  • Architect distributed backend services and APIs using Python, FastAPI, Node.js, or equivalent frameworks.
  • Design modular, observable, and scalable backend components for orchestration, data services, and platform integrations.
  • Define patterns for microservices, domain boundaries, caching, queuing, resiliency, and error handling.
  • Build robust service-to-service communication mechanisms (REST, gRPC, event-driven patterns).
  • Implement secure authentication, authorization, rate limiting, and multi-tenant access controls.
  • Write high-quality, maintainable, production-ready code.
  • Integrate with external APIs (marketing platforms, cloud services, internal microservices).
  • Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code environments.
  • Lead code reviews, mentor engineers, and ensure high engineering standards.
  • Contribute to platform SDKs, internal libraries, and backend frameworks used across charters.

Performance, Reliability & Observability:

  • Implement tracing, structured logging, metrics, dashboards, and alerting.
  • Optimize services for latency, concurrency, throughput, and cost efficiency.
  • Ensure system reliability through automated testing, load testing, error budgets, and resiliency strategies.
  • Partner with SRE to define SLIs/SLOs and improve platform-wide reliability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

  • Work closely with various teams on shared backend designs.
  • Collaborate with Product Managers and UX research teams to translate requirements into backend capabilities.
  • Align architecture decisions across charters to ensure consistency and maintainability.

What we’re looking for:

  • Demonstrable backend engineering experience, with architectural ownership over services or distributed systems.
  • Expertise in Python, FastAPI, Flask, or Node.js and modern backend development patterns.
  • Strong understanding of microservices, concurrency, async programming, and event-driven architectures.
  • Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases.
  • Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms.
  • Strong CI/CD experience using relevant tools.
  • Deep knowledge of observability practices.
  • Proven ability to write clean, testable, well-structured production code.

Nice to Have:

  • Experience with streaming or queuing systems.
  • Familiarity with AI/LLM systems.
  • Knowledge of data engineering patterns or ETL/ELT workflows.
  • Prior experience with API gateway architectures, caching layers, or service meshes.
  • Exposure to cybersecurity best practices and secure service design.

Additional Information: Publicis Groupe has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In the UK, we offer various benefits including a WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity, REFLECTION DAYS, HELP@HAND BENEFITS, FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES, FLEXIBLE WORKING, and GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS. Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!

Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full-time employees being office-based three days during the working week. We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness.

Senior Backend Engineer employer: Publicis Media

Publicis Media is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic work culture where innovation and collaboration thrive. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, we provide comprehensive benefits such as pension plans and private medical cover, ensuring our team members feel valued and supported. Located in a vibrant digital market, this role offers unique opportunities to make a significant impact on global brands while advancing your career in the fast-paced world of e-commerce analytics.

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Contact Details:

Publicis Media Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior Backend Engineer

✨Join Local Tech Meetups

Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Publicis Media or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!

✨Contribute to Open Source Projects

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✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles

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We think you need these skills to ace Senior Backend Engineer

Backend Engineering
Python
FastAPI
Node.js
Microservices Architecture
SQL Databases
NoSQL Databases

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Publicis Media.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Publicis Media and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!

How to prepare for a job interview at Publicis Media

✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Publicis Media uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

✨Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions

While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.