Senior Back end Engineer
Location: UK (Remote or Hybrid – London preferred)
Type: Contract (with potential of converting to permanent
Reports to: CTO
Experience Level: Senior / 5–10 years
Salary: £75,000 to £90,000 (Depending on experience)
About Our Client
Our client is an early stage AI start-up in the education sector are looking to hire a Senior Back End Engineer. They’re on a mission to redefine how students learn through intelligent tutoring and empower teachers with data-driven insights into learning progress using ML, GenAI, and modern data systems.
Their cross-functional team of engineers and product leaders is building a platform that powers both mobile and web apps for users. They’re now on the lookout for a hands-on Senior Backend Engineer who can take ownership of backend architecture, scale system performance, and mature their DevOps and CI/CD practices.
What You’ll Do
- Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services and RESTful APIs using Python (FastAPI/Django/Flask)
- Architect and optimise AWS infrastructure (Lambda, ECS, EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFront, etc.) for reliability and cost efficiency
- Build and manage PostgreSQL databases hosted on Amazon RDS, including schema design, query optimisation, and backups
- Collaborate with frontend engineers (React/React Native/Swift) to integrate APIs with web and mobile apps
- Lead DevOps automation – CI/CD (GitHub Actions), infrastructure as code (Terraform/CDK), observability (CloudWatch, Grafana)
- Work closely with AI engineers to integrate and deploy machine learning pipelines into production systems
- Implement security, monitoring, and data governance best practices
- Mentor team members, set coding standards, and contribute to architectural decisions with the CTO
What You’ll Bring
- 5+ years of experience as Senior backend Engineer/Developer (Python, Node.js, or Go)
- Strong expertise in AWS (Lambda, ECS, EC2, RDS, S3) and DevOps pipelines
- Deep understanding of PostgreSQL (schema design, optimisation, migrations) and RDS management
- Experience working with AI code generation tools such as Cursor, Copilot, or a similar tool. This essential, as the team work these tools for speed and efficiency.
- Proven experience building RESTful APIs for high-performance web and mobile applications
- Familiarity with Swift or React Native API integration workflows
- Experience with containerisation (Docker, ECS/EKS/Kubernetes)
- Exposure to integrating AI/ML services or APIs into production systems
- A passion for start-up environments — ownership, speed, and hands-on problem solving
Why Join
- Join an early-stage founding team shaping the platform and product direction from the ground up
- Work with cutting-edge AWS and AI technologies in a fast-paced, high-autonomy culture
- Collaborate closely with experienced product and AI leaders
