Senior Backend Engineer — Scale Global APIs & Systems

Preply; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Learning budget

Self-development time off

Equity and competitive package

Job summary

Preply is seeking a Senior II Backend Engineer in London, offering hybrid work and a chance to shape the technical direction of multiple squads. You will design scalable backend systems, drive data pipelines, and integrate with third-party services to power Preply’s global growth.

You will mentor peers, participate in architectural reviews, and contribute to reliability, observability, and performance across services. A tech-agnostic mindset with a focus on product value is valued.

Qualifications

• Exposure to architectural patterns of a large, high-scale web application (e.g., well-designed APIs, high-volume data pipelines, efficient algorithms);
• Proven experience leading complex, greenfield projects end-to-end
• A track record of shaping architectural decisions and setting engineering standards that impact multiple teams or domains.
• Comfort with shaping product scope, challenging requirements, and focusing on customer value.
• Strong communication (English level B2+) with the ability to influence senior peers and leadership through clear reasoning and strong technical judgment.
• Willingness to join your team's on-call rotation (1 week out of every 5).

Responsibilities

• Own, shape, and drive technical direction across multiple engineering squads.
• Lead complex, ambiguous initiatives from idea to delivery, aligning engineers, teams, product managers, and stakeholders around shared outcomes.
• Design, build, and evolve scalable backend systems using Python/Django, data pipelines, and third-party integrations that support long-term business growth.
• Partner with PMs, EMs, and senior stakeholders to shape roadmaps, make technical trade-offs, and guide investment decisions.
• Raise the engineering bar through mentoring, architectural reviews, and engineering best practices.
• Drive reliability, observability, performance, and operational excellence across multiple services and teams.
• Foster a quality-first culture through automation, documentation, and continuous improvement.
• Participate in on-call rotation (1 week every 5 weeks).

Skills

Architecture patterns

Lead greenfield projects

Architectural decisions

Product scope & value

English communication

On-call readiness

Job description

Preply is seeking a Senior II Backend Engineer in London, offering hybrid work and a chance to shape the technical direction of multiple squads. You will design scalable backend systems, drive data pipelines, and integrate with third-party services to power Preply’s global growth.

You will mentor peers, participate in architectural reviews, and contribute to reliability, observability, and performance across services. A tech-agnostic mindset with a focus on product value is valued.