#5 - Senior Backend Engineer - Python & Databricks

Join Our Remote Data Products & Machine Learning Startup!

At Muttdata, we build innovative Data Products and Machine Learning solutions that help companies solve complex business challenges. As a fast-growing, remote-first startup, we’re passionate about technology, collaboration, and continuous learning.

We are looking for an experienced, hands-on, and ownership-driven Backend Engineer (Advanced) to join our team . In this role you will design, build, and operate production-grade backend services and REST APIs with Python and FastAPI on Microsoft Azure, including a communications dispatch service that integrates messaging queues and external APIs such as Braze.

You will work closely with development, data, and IT/DevOps teams, integrating backend services with Azure components, relational databases, third-party APIs, and data processes running on platforms like Databricks. Reliability, observability, and clean, maintainable code are at the core of this role.

What We Do

• Leveraging our expertise, we build modern Machine Learning systems for demand planning and budget forecasting.
• Developing scalable data infrastructures, we enhance high-level decision-making, tailored to each client.
• Offering comprehensive Data Engineering and custom AI solutions, we optimize cloud-based systems.
• Using Generative AI, we help e-commerce platforms and retailers create higher-quality ads, faster.
• Building deep learning models, we enhance visual recognition and automation for various industries, improving product categorization, quality control, and information retrieval.
• Developing recommendation models, we personalize user experiences in e-commerce, streaming, and digital platforms, driving engagement and conversions.

Our Partnerships

• Amazon Web Services
• Astronomer
• Databricks

Our Values

• We are Data Nerds
• We are Open Team Players
• We Take Ownership
• We Have a Positive Mindset

Curious about what we’re up to? Check out our case studies and dive into our blog post to learn more about our culture and the exciting projects we’re working on!

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and evolve backend services and REST APIs with Python and FastAPI, applying best practices in architecture, security, and maintainability.
• Build and operate the communications dispatch service, integrating message queues and external APIs, with idempotency, retries, rate limiting, and error handling mechanisms.
• Integrate and orchestrate platform components, including Azure services, databases, third-party APIs, and data processes running on platforms such as Databricks.
• Design and maintain persistence solutions in Azure SQL, including data modeling, migrations, data integrity, and query optimization.
• Ensure backend reliability and observability in production by implementing monitoring, tracing, automated testing, and failure recovery mechanisms.
• Collaborate with development, data, and IT/DevOps teams on technical decisions, component integration, CI/CD pipelines, and deployments across environments, maintaining clear technical documentation.

Required Skills

• 4+ years of experience in backend development, with demonstrable participation in building, integrating, and operating production services.
• Strong command of Python and experience building REST APIs with FastAPI or equivalent frameworks.
• Experience designing modular, maintainable software, applying principles such as SOLID, separation of concerns, and automated testing best practices.
• Experience integrating APIs and distributed systems, including authentication, error handling, timeouts, retries, and resiliency patterns.
• Experience with asynchronous processing and messaging systems, using queues, dead-letter handling, and idempotency (e.g., Azure Service Bus or equivalents).
• Strong SQL and relational database skills, including modeling, querying, migrations, and ORM usage; SQL Server or Azure SQL preferred.
• Experience with Docker and deploying containerized services.
• Hands-on experience with cloud services, preferably Microsoft Azure, including monitoring, Git version control, and participation in continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) processes.

Nice to Have

• Experience with AI-assisted software development using tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor, or Spec-Driven Development (SDD) practices, with sound judgment to validate the quality, security, and maintainability of generated code.
• Experience integrating and orchestrating data processes from backend services, especially with Azure Databricks or other processing platforms.
• Experience with containerized infrastructure in the cloud, including Kubernetes/AKS or Azure Container Registry.
• Familiarity with Martech, engagement, or digital experimentation platforms, including push, email, in-app communications integrations, or A/B testing.

Perks

• Remote-first culture - work from anywhere!
• AWS, DBT, Google Cloud, Azure & Databricks certifications fully covered
• Birthday off + an extra vacation week (Mutt Week! )
• Referral bonuses - help us grow the team & get rewarded!
• Maslow: Monthly credits to spend in our benefits marketplace.
• Annual Mutters' Trip - an unforgettable getaway with the team!