Senior Backend Engineer

Urban SDK

34d•Remote

About The Position

We are hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to design and build scalable data-intensive systems using Python and modern big data tooling. You will work on data pipelines, APIs, and backend services that process large datasets using dataframes, Parquet, and Databricks, enabling analytics and visualization products at scale. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working close to data, cares deeply about performance and reliability, and can own backend systems end-to-end.

Requirements

5+ years of backend or data engineering experience
Strong proficiency in Python
Deep experience with dataframes (Pandas, PySpark, Dask, or similar)
Hands-on experience with big data processing and distributed systems
Strong experience working with Parquet and columnar data formats
Experience using Databricks in production environments
Solid understanding of data modeling, performance tuning, and memory optimization
Experience building and maintaining APIs (REST and/or gRPC)
Strong debugging, testing, and problem-solving skills

Nice To Haves

Experience deploying and operating systems on AWS
S3, EC2, EKS, Lambda, IAM, etc.
Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation)
Experience with containerization and deployment (Docker, Kubernetes)
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automated deployments
Experience with streaming systems (Kafka, Kinesis)
Background in analytics, geospatial data, or data platforms

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain backend services and data pipelines using Python
Work extensively with dataframes (Pandas, PySpark, or similar) to process large datasets
Build and optimize data pipelines using Parquet and columnar storage formats
Develop and maintain workflows on Databricks
Optimize performance for large-scale, distributed data processing
Design and maintain APIs that support data-heavy applications
Collaborate closely with front-end, data, and product teams
Ensure data quality, reliability, and observability
Participate in architectural decisions and technical planning
Mentor other engineers and lead code reviews