Senior Python Engineer (Backend and Data)

About the Role

We are hiring a Senior Python Engineer to design, build and run scalable backend systems that power data driven applications. You will develop secure, high performance APIs and microservices, build backend services that serve datasets efficiently, and own data transformation pipelines from ingestion to delivery. This role suits an engineer who writes clean production code and also takes ownership of how that code is tested, deployed and run in production.

Key Responsibilities

Backend and API Development

- Design, develop and maintain RESTful APIs and microservices using Python (FastAPI, Flask, Django)
- Build asynchronous, high concurrency services using asyncio, and optimise I/O operations for performance
- Design and maintain scalable internal web frameworks and take them to production
- Work with front end teams to integrate user facing features with server side logic
- Write clean, efficient, well documented code that follows coding standards

API Security

- Implement authentication, authorisation and encryption across microservices
- Secure APIs using OAuth 2.0, JWT and API gateways

Data Access and Database Management

- Build backend systems that serve datasets through APIs and other interfaces
- Implement data access layers using ORMs such as SQLAlchemy and Django ORM (models, CRUD, querying, transactions)
- Design and optimise database schemas for relational and NoSQL stores
- Tune query and database performance for fast, reliable data retrieval

Data Transformation and ETL

- Design and maintain ETL pipelines to extract, clean, aggregate and enrich data
- Ensure data integrity, quality and consistency across all transformation processes
- Work with big data and streaming technologies such as Spark, Kafka and Hadoop

Engineering Practices and DevOps

- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment
- Write unit and integration tests and debug production issues using logging and profiling tools
- Use Git for version control, branching, code reviews and pull requests
- Produce clear technical documentation and contribute to code reviews

Required Skills and Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field
- 5+ years of professional experience in Python backend development
- Strong hands on experience with FastAPI and/or Flask, plus working knowledge of Django
- Proven experience with asyncio and concurrent programming
- Solid understanding of microservices architecture
- Experience securing APIs with OAuth, JWT and API gateways
- Strong SQL skills and experience with SQLAlchemy or Django ORM
- Experience with relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) and NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra) databases
- Experience building ETL or data transformation pipelines
- Familiarity with big data technologies (Spark, Kafka, Hadoop) and data warehousing concepts
- Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps)
- Proficiency in Shell scripting
- Strong Git and collaborative development experience
- Strong problem solving skills and attention to detail
- Excellent communication skills with technical and business stakeholders

Preferred Skills

- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure or GCP)
- Containerisation and orchestration with Docker and Kubernetes
- Knowledge of data governance, compliance and data security best practices
- Experience in banking, fintech or other regulated environments