Senior Backend / Database Developer (Supabase) - Part-time - NA/LATAM/EU

Role Overview

We have completed an initial migration into Supabase and have a working traveler profile intake form in active development. What we need now is a senior backend and data engineer to help us consolidate the foundation before we scale the build.

This is a hands-on architecture and implementation role. You will be the most senior technical voice on the data layer, working directly with the founder, alongside our frontend developer and our back office tech lead.

What you'll do

Phase 1: Unify and normalize the database

• Audit our current Supabase schema (traveler profiles, reference data, suppliers) against our documented data model and vocabulary
• Normalize and consolidate tables around our core principle: one canonical record per real-world entity (one person, one hotel, one country), referenced everywhere it appears rather than copied. This is non-negotiable for us and already documented
• Establish clean relationships between traveler profiles, travel documents, nationalities, and reference tables (countries, airlines, airports)
• Review and harden RLS policies, migrations, and sync workflows
• Leave behind a schema that is documented, consistent, and ready to grow

Phase 2: Optimize the traveler profile intake

• Own the backend of our Traveler Profile v2 form: submission logic, validation, storage patterns, and how form fields map to the unified schema
• Work with our frontend developer to wire the form to clean, well-shaped endpoints and queries
• Help us establish patterns (naming, structure, API boundaries) that future modules will follow

What already exists

• A live Supabase project with completed initial migration (schema export, migration files, and RLS policies available for review)
• A documented product vocabulary and clear data principles to work from; the goal is to map and strengthen the schema we actually run, not build toward a hypothetical
• A production-quality frontend build in React/Tailwind with an active developer
• A founder with deep domain knowledge who has already made the hard modeling decisions and can answer any "what does this field really mean" question same-day

You are not being asked to invent the data model. You are being asked to bring engineering rigor to a model that is already thought through, and to close the gap between where the database is and where it should be.

You're a fit if

• You have 7+ years of backend experience with serious Postgres data modeling depth (normalization, constraints, migrations, indexing, RLS)
• You have shipped production work on Supabase or can demonstrate equivalent Postgres-native experience
• You think in terms of canonical records, referential integrity, and long-term schema health, not quick fixes
• You communicate clearly in writing and can explain tradeoffs to a non-engineer founder
• You are comfortable being the senior technical voice without needing a large team around you

Nice to have

• Retool experience (building or maintaining internal tools/apps)
  *. Experience with travel/hospitality data (GDS systems, hotel/flight data structures)
  *. Full-stack capability (React) — could open the door to broader involvement as the role/product grows
• FastAPI or similar API layer experience (we intend to put an API boundary in front of the database)

Engagement

Contract to start, with meaningful ongoing work as the platform grows. We care about craft, clarity, and doing things properly the first time. If the foundation phase goes well, there is a long runway here.

To apply, tell us briefly about a database you inherited and made better: what was wrong, what you changed, and how you decided what to leave alone.