Lead Backend Software Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Illinois.

📋 Description

• Oversee the technical design and practical implementation of essential backend APIs and services, focusing on Python and FastAPI.

• Establish architectural guidelines for domain models, relational schemas, service boundaries, data consistency, and API contracts.

• Convert product priorities into clearly defined delivery plans, milestones, and technical decisions.

• Personally manage critical-path development, conduct code reviews, plan releases, and respond to incidents.

• Uphold and enforce high standards for testing, CI/CD, observability, security, performance, and production reliability.

• Create dependable integrations across geospatial, media, reporting, asset management, and external vendor systems.

• Design and oversee ETL and data migration processes for imagery, geospatial, and operational data.

• Directly supervise 3 to 4 senior backend engineers through consistent one-on-ones, feedback, performance evaluations, and career growth, while also managing nearshore engineers or consultants as necessary.

• Effectively delegate tasks, eliminate delivery obstacles, and ensure the team reliably delivers high-quality backend systems.

• Collaborate with product, frontend, data, operations, and QA teams to prioritize trade-offs and deliver value to customers.

• Recruit, onboard, mentor, and cultivate talented backend engineers.

⛳️ Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in backend development, with a solid proficiency in Python.

• Proven experience as a hands-on technical lead with direct management of engineers.

• Exceptional capability to reason from first principles regarding backend architecture, workflow modeling, API boundaries, data consistency, security, and operational failure modes.

• Strong product judgment with the ability to translate vague business needs into specific technical plans and achievable milestones.

• Demonstrated ability to mentor senior engineers, provide direct feedback, and enhance team performance.

• Excellent communication skills with the capacity to lead across product, frontend, data, operations, and business teams.

• Experience in building production APIs using FastAPI or similar Python frameworks.

• In-depth understanding of relational data modeling, PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy or equivalent ORM libraries, and database migration tools like Alembic or Flyway.

• Familiarity with AWS backend services such as ECS, Lambda, RDS, S3, IAM, and related services.

• Experience with Docker, Git, and the design and maintenance of CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline, or similar tools.

• Practical knowledge of AI coding agents such as Claude Code and Cursor.

🏝️ Benefits

• Generous paid vacation and separate sick leave banks.

• Ten (10) company holidays off, plus two (2) floating holidays.

• Two (2) paid days annually for volunteer work.

• Paid parental leave benefits available after ninety (90) days of employment.

• Comprehensive employee health, dental, vision, life, and short-term disability coverage at no cost, effective on the first of the month following your hire date.

• 401K plan with a 4% employer safe harbor contribution.