Backend Software Engineer - Python

Location: London (in-office 4 days per week, non-negotiable)

Type: Full-time

Reports to: Head of Engineering

Salary: £90,000-£105,000 + benefits

Are you a Senior Backend Engineer who thrives on designing and scaling complex systems? Do you enjoy working on data-intensive platforms involving Real Time pipelines, streaming architectures, and graph-based services?

This is a hands-on role within a small, research-driven engineering team working on high-complexity systems. You will take ownership of key components from architecture through to production, while contributing to the overall technical direction.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and own Back End services and data pipelines in Python
• Develop and operate streaming systems using Kafka or similar technologies
• Work with graph-based data structures and algorithms to support analytics and decision-making
• Build reliable, scalable systems that process Real Time data from distributed edge devices
• Lead technical decisions across architecture, tooling, and system design
• Collaborate with data scientists and ML engineers to deploy models into production
• Mentor engineers and contribute to engineering best practices
• Improve observability, monitoring, and incident response processes
• Write maintainable, well-tested code and contribute to code reviews

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building and operating Back End systems in production
• Strong proficiency in Python
• Experience with streaming systems (Kafka, Pulsar, or similar)
• Familiarity with graph data structures and algorithms
• Experience working with databases (MongoDB or similar)
• Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts and trade-offs
• Proven experience owning systems end-to-end
• Experience with Git and collaborative development workflows
• Ability to make independent technical decisions and clearly communicate trade-offs
• Comfortable working in a small, high-ownership team environment

Compensation & Benefits

• Private health and dental coverage
• 25 days holiday
• Enhanced parental leave
• High-quality hardware
• Additional perks (workspace benefits, team events, and more)