At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and optimise backend services for AI-powered financial workflows.
- Company: Join Translucent, a leader in AI-driven accounting data solutions.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative environment focused on innovation and career advancement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on the future of finance with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in backend engineering with strong SQL and programming skills.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
Translucent is building the infrastructure that lets AI work reliably with complex accounting data. Most AI fails when it hits real financial data since it is complex, inconsistent, and spread across dozens of systems. We have solved this problem by creating a platform that ingests, rebuilds, and indexes data from providers like Xero and QuickBooks, enabling developers to create AI-powered workflows that are secure, accurate, and auditable. We already have a production system in place with live customers. Our platform processes millions of transactions daily while maintaining sub-100ms API response times, powered by PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, ElasticSearch, and Kafka-based ingestion pipelines.
We are looking for an experienced Backend Engineer who loves working with data, building robust services, and optimising distributed systems. You will work across ingestion pipelines, API layers, and query engines, shaping how our platform stores, processes, and serves financial data. This is a hands-on role where you will make architectural decisions, solve scaling challenges, and design backend systems that form the foundation for AI-powered financial workflows.
What you will do:
- Design, implement, and optimise backend services that power our APIs, integrations, and developer tools.
- Own database performance and reliability: schema design, indexing, query optimisation, and scaling strategies for PostgreSQL and ClickHouse.
- Build and maintain high-throughput ingestion pipelines with Kafka, transforming raw accounting data into well-structured, queryable formats.
- Develop data access APIs that make financial data securely and efficiently available to both internal services and external developers.
- Improve observability across the stack: logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting for ingestion pipelines and backend services.
- Collaborate with engineers, product, and domain experts to turn customer workflows into reliable backend systems.
- Contribute to architectural decisions across event-driven workflows, sync/transform services, indexing strategies, and search infrastructure.
- Support AI-powered workflows by ensuring data pipelines are structured, reliable, and optimised for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), schema validation, and downstream agent evaluation.
- Help design guardrails and evaluation hooks for systems where agents or customers write data back, ensuring correctness, performance, and safety.
- Explore new data architectures such as graph databases to model complex financial relationships and support emerging AI workflows.
- Work in lockstep with AI engineers to evolve Translucent into an AI-first company.
What you will bring:
- 5+ years of backend engineering experience, ideally in data-intensive or high-scale systems.
- Strong skills in SQL and database design (PostgreSQL preferred), with proven experience in optimisation and scaling.
- Solid programming skills in Python, Go, Kotlin or a similar backend language.
- Experience designing and maintaining production APIs (REST/gRPC/tRPC).
- Comfort with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or similar) and containerised environments (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Understanding of data pipelines and ETL processes, working with both structured and semi-structured data.
- Exposure to AI-powered data frameworks and infra such as vector databases (Weaviate, Qdrant, Pinecone), graph databases (Neo4j, Memgraph), or model serving/routing systems (vLLM, LiteLLM).
- Familiarity with agent orchestration frameworks (LangGraph, Mastra) or AI observability tools.
Senior Backend Engineer employer: Translucent
Translucent is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture, where engineers are empowered to make impactful architectural decisions and tackle complex challenges in backend systems. With a focus on employee growth, we offer opportunities to work with cutting-edge technologies and contribute to the evolution of AI-powered financial workflows, all while enjoying a supportive environment that values creativity and teamwork. Located in a vibrant tech hub, our team enjoys access to a wealth of resources and networking opportunities, making it an ideal place for professionals looking to advance their careers in a meaningful way.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Backend Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in your industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. A friendly chat can lead to opportunities that aren’t even advertised yet.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Build a small project or contribute to open-source that showcases your backend engineering prowess. It’s a great way to demonstrate your abilities beyond just a CV.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the technical interview by brushing up on your SQL and system design skills. Practice common backend scenarios and be ready to discuss your past projects in detail.
✨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, we love seeing candidates who are proactive!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Backend Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Senior Backend Engineer role. Highlight your experience with data-intensive systems and backend technologies that match what we're looking for. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Showcase Your Projects:Include specific projects where you've designed or optimised backend services, especially those involving databases like PostgreSQL or ClickHouse. We love seeing real-world examples of your work and how you’ve tackled challenges in the past.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter should tell us why you're excited about working with AI and financial data. Share your passion for building robust services and how you can contribute to our mission at Translucent. Let your personality shine through!
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’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re keen on joining our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Translucent
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Make sure you’re well-versed in the technologies mentioned in the job description, especially PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, and Kafka. Brush up on your SQL skills and be ready to discuss how you've optimised database performance in past projects.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to discuss specific challenges you've faced in backend engineering, particularly around scaling and data processing. Use examples that highlight your ability to design robust systems and make architectural decisions.
✨Understand the Business Context
Familiarise yourself with the financial data landscape and how AI interacts with it. Being able to articulate how your work can impact the company’s goals will show that you’re not just a techie but also understand the bigger picture.
✨Ask Insightful Questions
Prepare thoughtful questions about the company's current projects, future plans, and team dynamics. This shows your genuine interest in the role and helps you gauge if the company is the right fit for you.
