Senior Backend Engineer

Code Metal

$120K — $150K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of backend engineering experience focusing on Python.
  • Expertise in designing and delivering FastAPI-based services.
  • Solid experience with PostgreSQL covering schema design and optimization.
  • Practical knowledge of geospatial and time-series data querying.
  • Experience with asynchronous systems using Redis.
  • Strong foundation in Docker development and deployment.
  • Understanding of software engineering best practices, including testing and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

  • Design and build FastAPI-based services with a focus on performance.
  • Implement state machines and event-driven workflows for service coordination.
  • Create and query complex relational and geospatial data models using PostgreSQL.
  • Build pub/sub and task processing patterns with Redis and async frameworks.
  • Integrate authentication systems for role-based access to data.
  • Deploy and maintain containers with Docker for reliable application delivery.
  • Conduct code reviews and collaborate cross-functionally on API definitions.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work in a cutting-edge Python environment.
  • Collaborative team culture emphasizing autonomy and clean code.
  • Chance to take full ownership of projects from design to deployment.
  • Exposure to modern tools and technology stacks.
  • Potential to influence architectural decisions in a high-performing team.
Full Job Description
Senior Backend Engineer
About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who is passionate about building robust, scalable backend systems in Python. This role is for someone who thrives in an environment where most of the day is spent writing code, designing clean architectures, and solving hard problems independently.

You'll develop backend services that handle complex asynchronous workflows, state machines, and event-driven lifecycles, powering distributed, data-intensive applications. The systems you build will integrate geospatial and temporal data, enforce fine-grained permissions, and operate across multiple services with high reliability.

You'll work in a modern Python environment, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, Redis, and Docker, collaborating with a small, high-performing engineering team that values autonomy, clean code, and pragmatic solutions.

This is a 90% hands-on coding position, ideal for someone who loves to architect, implement, and own their code from design to deployment.
Responsibilities
  • Design and build FastAPI-based services and APIs with a focus on performance, clarity, and maintainability.
  • Implement state machines and event-driven workflows that coordinate asynchronous operations across multiple services.
    Work with PostgreSQL to design and query complex relational, geospatial, and temporal data models.
    Build pub/sub and task processing patterns using Redis and modern async frameworks.
  • Integrate and extend authentication and authorization systems, enabling role-based and attribute-based access to data and endpoints.
  • Deploy and maintain containerized applications using Docker, ensuring reliability, observability, and security.
  • Write unit, integration, and performance tests that validate reliability and correctness.
  • Participate in code reviews and architecture discussions, contributing to design patterns, tooling, and continuous improvement.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with other engineers and analysts to define APIs, data contracts, and workflow orchestration patterns.
Requirements
  • 8+ years of professional backend software engineering experience, with a strong focus on Python.
  • Proven ability to design and deliver production-grade APIs and services using frameworks such as FastAPI or Flask.
  • Solid experience with PostgreSQL, including schema design, query optimization, and migrations.
  • Practical knowledge of geospatial and time-series querying, data modeling, and efficient indexing.
  • Experience building asynchronous systems using Redis (pub/sub, streams, or queues) or similar technologies.
  • Strong foundation in Docker-based development and deployment workflows.
  • Deep understanding of software engineering best practices, version control, testing, CI/CD, documentation, and type safety.
  • Demonstrated ability to take full ownership of a complex backend service from concept to production, with minimal oversight.
Nice to Have
  • Experience with event-driven architectures (Celery, FastStream, Kafka, or similar).
  • Familiarity with authentication and authorization standards (OIDC, OAuth2, RBAC).
  • Experience working with geospatial frameworks such as Shapely, GeoAlchemy2, or H3.
  • Understanding of observability and monitoring (e.g., Sentry, structured logging, tracing).
  • Experience deploying to cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).
  • Prior work with async I/O in Python (asyncio, aiohttp, or similar).
  • Knowledge of workflow orchestration and message-based inter-service communication.

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