Sr. backend engineer (contract)

About the role

We're a fast-moving startup building API-driven marketplace products. We're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer with a strong track record of shipping production code to help us design, build, and scale the backend services and APIs at the core of our platform. This is a contract-to-hire role. We want to work together on real problems first, and convert to full-time when it's a clear fit for both sides.

What you'll do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable, secure backend services and REST APIs.
• Own features end to end: from design and implementation through testing, deployment, and monitoring in production.
• Model, evolve, and optimize our PostgreSQL data layer (schema design, migrations, indexing, query performance).
• Integrate with third-party APIs and internal services, with a focus on reliability and clean error handling.
• Write automated tests and help maintain a high bar for code quality and reliability.
• Deploy and operate services in a cloud environment (AWS), including CI/CD and basic observability (logging, metrics, alerting).
• Collaborate with product, frontend, and other engineers to ship user-facing value quickly and iterate.
• Use AI-powered development tools (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, and similar) to accelerate delivery, improve code quality, and move faster without cutting corners.

What we're looking for

• 5+ years of professional backend engineering experience with a strong record of delivering production systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and modern API frameworks (FastAPI or similar).
• Solid experience designing and building RESTful APIs and backend services.
• Strong PostgreSQL (or comparable relational database) skills, including schema design and performance tuning.
• Hands-on experience deploying and running services on AWS, with containers (Docker) and CI/CD.
• Comfortable integrating third-party APIs and building fault-tolerant integrations.
• Solid testing habits and a pragmatic, quality-first approach to shipping.
• Able to work independently, communicate clearly, and deliver on commitments.
• AI-forward: you actively use AI coding tools in your day-to-day workflow and are excited about building with AI. We're an AI-forward team and expect engineers to lean into these tools to raise both their speed and their quality.

Nice to have

• Experience with async Python (asyncio, async SQLAlchemy).
• Familiarity with AWS services such as ECS, RDS, SQS, and SES/SNS.
• Experience with marketplace, logistics, fintech, or workforce/scheduling products.
• Exposure to message queues, background workers, or event-driven systems.
• Startup or early-stage experience and comfort with ambiguity.
• Experience integrating AI/LLM capabilities into production applications.

Details

• Contract-to-hire: starts as a contract engagement with a path to full-time.
• Remote: US time-zone overlap required.
• Compensation: competitive contract rate, with full-time salary and equity on conversion.