Senior Python Developer

Backstage is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to join our passionate web team. Our backend web team includes mid and senior level engineers, tech leads, and an engineering manager. This team is a part of Backstage’s larger product and engineering department, which includes frontend, backend, iOS, and devops engineers, designers, product managers, data analysts, and quality assurance resources. We value curiosity, trust, and impact, and we foster a culture of constant learning and improvement where teammates work together to accomplish user-focused initiatives.

Our process is a modified Kanban process with the goal of delivering incremental value to the customer. Products are workshopped and then broken into milestones, with estimates driven by engineers, not managers. We uphold autonomy and trust our engineers to pick the best tools suited for their tasks, while working collaboratively towards mutual goals.

In line with our goal to continue delivering value to the customer, we release multiple times a day, every day, and adhere to a robust QA and code review process before any code is released.

As a backend engineer, you will be working with cutting edge technology and new product development in a stable and rapidly growing company. You will be partnering with our product and tech leads to design and architect new features. This is an individual contributor role, and you will be empowered to make your own decisions about implementations and given autonomy to complete your work at your own pace.

The Backend Software Engineer will report to our Backend Engineering Manager.

What You’ll Do:

• Partner with product, marketing, business intelligence, and design teams to develop new product features and enhancements
• Design engineering plans to meet the requirements of the product or goal
• Design, build and maintain efficient, reusable, and reliable Python code
• Contribute to and influence the overall backend architecture decisions
• Work closely with product, marketing, and customer service to translate customer feedback into successful features and tools
• Collaborate with backend engineers outside your feature team to maintain shared code and infrastructure
• Coordinate with frontend engineers to provide a cohesive experience
• Use both technical and relational skills to lead large scale projects to completion
• Collaborate, mentor, and learn with a high-performing team of engineers

What we’re looking for from you:

• Proven experience building a major product or feature from scratch at scale for a large public-facing web application
• Advanced proficiency with Python and Django
• Solid database skills in a relational database (i.e., PostgresSQL, MySQL, etc.)
• Experience with Elasticsearch a plus
• Experience in developing RESTful APIs.
• Strong unit test and debugging skills.
• Experience incrementally rolling out new features, components or refactors without blocking the rest of the team, and iterating upon and maintaining live products
• Strong project management skills; able to organize, adhere to process, and execute projects across disciplines and by deadline
• Excellent communication skills; you can articulate clearly, thoroughly, and concisely to technical and non-technical audiences
• Comfortability with the entire development life cycle (inception to release) in an Agile environment
• Collaborative, engaged, and adaptable; you are comfortable joining a team with a large, mature codebase with established engineering processes
• Flexible and proactive, you’re able to shift gears quickly in a fast-paced environment
• Familiarity with Javascript/React a plus

Special Work Conditions

• Sedentary – Involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Some positions may entail exerting up to 15 lbs. of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force to lift, carry, push, or pull