Senior Backend Services Engineer Python/FastAPI
Job Description
Job Description Title: Senior Backend Services Engineer Python/FastAPI Location: 3 days onsite Philadelphia
Vendor Submission Requirements
Please include:
- Candidate Name
- Current Status (Active / Passive / On Project)
- Current Employer
- Proposed Start Date
- Work Authorization
- Current Location
- Confirmation of hybrid onsite availability
- Rate
- Updated resume with month/year dates
Role Overview
Seeking a highly experienced Senior Python Backend Engineer to support critical engineering initiatives with aggressive delivery timelines.
This is a hands-on development role, not an architecture or oversight position. We need someone who can quickly understand an existing codebase, take ownership of complex engineering tasks, and independently build and deliver production-quality solutions with minimal ramp-up.
The ideal candidate brings deep Python/FastAPI development experience, strong database and integration skills, and practical experience using modern AI coding assistants to accelerate development.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, test, and support scalable backend services, middleware, and APIs
- Build production applications using Python and FastAPI
- Develop microservices and service-layer applications
- Integrate applications with relational, NoSQL, and cloud databases
- Build integrations with enterprise APIs and external systems
- Independently own development work from requirements through production
- Quickly understand and enhance existing applications and codebases
- Troubleshoot complex application, database, and integration issues
- Write clean, maintainable, production-quality code
- Leverage GitHub Copilot, Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or similar AI coding tools
- Collaborate with engineering, product, and data teams to meet aggressive deadlines
Required Qualifications
- Extensive senior-level backend/software engineering experience
- Advanced hands-on Python development MUST HAVE
- Strong FastAPI development MUST HAVE
- Experience building middleware, REST APIs, microservices, and backend services
- Strong database experience across SQL, NoSQL, and/or cloud platforms
- Enterprise application and API integration experience
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, testing, debugging, and production support
- Ability to independently own complex engineering work with minimal supervision
- Experience working in fast-paced environments with aggressive deadlines
- Hands-on experience using AI coding assistants such as GitHub Copilot/Codex, Claude Code, or Cursor
Preferred
- Frontend development experience
- Experience working across multiple database technologies
- Experience modernizing or enhancing existing enterprise applications
Important Screening Guidance
Please do not send Python developers whose experience is primarily data engineering, scripting, or automation.
We need a true backend software engineer who has personally built production APIs, middleware, and services using Python/FastAPI.
Candidates should be able to explain:
- Python/FastAPI: What production backend services and APIs have they personally developed?
- Middleware: What enterprise integrations or service-layer applications have they built?
- Databases: Which databases have they worked with, and how did their applications interact with them?
- Independent Execution: Can they describe a complex engineering problem they owned from requirements through production?
- AI Coding Tools: Which AI development tools do they actively use, and how have those tools improved their development workflow?
We need a senior hands-on engineer who can hit the ground running, independently solve problems, and deliver quality code without extensive technical guidance.