Associate Lead- Backend Developer

CivicDataLab; Delhi; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 3,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness stipend ₹60,000 annually

Professional growth allowance ₹60,0000

Job summary

CivicDataLab in New Delhi seeks an Associate Lead Backend Developer with 5–8 years of experience to build and scale data platforms. You will design scalable backend systems, mentor engineers, and drive open-source collaboration in a fast‑paced civic-tech environment.

You will collaborate cross-functionally with product, data and platform teams, lead API development, ensure security and governance, and guide infra modernization across cloud deployments.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of backend engineering experience with leadership or mentorship responsibilities.
• Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL databases, indexing, normalization and data modelling at scale.
• Experience with Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and architecture of scalable, resilient backend systems handling large-scale data.
• Drive best practices in backend engineering, performance, and reliability.

Skills

Backend engineering

Leadership

Relational DB

NoSQL databases

CI/CD pipelines

DevOps practices

Cloud deployments

Distributed architecture

Microservices

Infrastructure as Code

Git workflows

Open Source

Docker & Kubernetes

Message queues

Security & governance

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub

Job description

We at CivicDataLab , work with the goal to use data, tech, design and social science to strengthen the course of civic engagements in India. We work to harness the potential of the open-source movement to enable citizens to engage better with public reforms. Our work is centred around building data strategy, data platforms and data science applications to push data-driven decision-making at scale. Moreover, we work closely with governments, non-profits, think tanks, media houses, academia and more to build overall data and tech capacity.

What we are looking for

An Associate Lead Backend Developer with a minimum of five yearsof experience to help support our various interventions through data platforms and tools, focusing on development to infrastructure management. This position requires a developer who can help us scope, build and scale our backend stack that powers our data platforms.

This position will be based out of New Delhi [Need basis travel to other states within India will be required based on project commitments]

About the role

We need a team player who can coordinate in person and virtually with internal and external stakeholders with diverse backgrounds to refine their requirements into user stories and pull them into the current project roadmap and deliver on them.

Key Responsibilities;

Lead the design and architecture of scalable, resilient backend systems that process large-scale, multi-sector, multi-geography data.

Drive best practices in backend engineering, ensuring high-quality code, performance optimisation, and system reliability across teams.

Oversee monitoring, evaluation, and observability systems for backend infrastructure, ensuring proactive issue detection and continuous improvement.

Guide the development of robust data pipelines, capable of handling diverse datasets with automated scheduling, monitoring, and fault tolerance.

Architect and implement APIs that power large-scale platforms and integrate with Open Source Solutions and external systems.

Mentor and support backend engineers, conducting reviews, providing technical direction, and fostering a high-performing team culture.

Champion open-source development, building and managing projects that contribute to the broader tech ecosystem.

Ensure security, privacy, compliance, and governance across distributed data systems and backend architecture.

Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and platform teams to align backend capabilities with organisational goals.

Drive infrastructure scalability efforts, including orchestration, automation, and cloud architecture modernisation.

Skill sets & Requirements;

5–8 years of experience in backend engineering, including leadership or mentorship responsibilities.

Deep understanding of databases (relational + NoSQL), including indexing, normalisation, query optimisation, caching strategies, and data modelling at scale.

Solid experience with Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and modern DevOps practices. Familiarity with GitHub-based project management is a plus.

Hands-on experience with scalable, distributed architectures, microservices, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), load balancing, and production-grade cloud deployments.

Proficiency with cloud environments such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.

Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to break down complex technical requirements, align stakeholder expectations, and influence decision-making.

Demonstrated ability to take ownership, lead initiatives, and deliver high-impact backend solutions.

Good to have

Experience contributing to or maintaining Open Source projects.

Experience collaborating with government, civic-tech, research, or community-driven organisations.

Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and container orchestration.

Basic understanding of message queues such as Redis, RabbitMQ, or Celery.

A healthy sense of humour and a collaborative mindset.

Perks of Working with Us

At CivicDataLab, we always emphasise the wellness of our bandhus. This includes any Expenditure done for the purpose of Wellness Setup, except any financial instrument, any expense that can be claimed as a deductible expense under Income Tax rules, any goods and services that attract a combined tax, cess or duty of more than 28%. If you're interested in taking classes that enhance your overall physical or mental well-being, you have an INR 60,000 annual stipend to do so. For some people, that might mean a monthly massage. Some take photography lessons, learn a musical instrument or buy a gym membership. It's up to you; the point is to learn something that you feel enriches you as a person.

Professional growth and development Allowance

At CivicDataLab, we encourage everyone to take up things that help one grow professionally, and you get an annual kitty of INR 60,000 to do so. This includes attending or speaking at conferences and workshops, taking courses, acquiring hardware or software licenses or even joining summer schools. We feel that learning a skill should never be a hurdle to solving important problems for the community.

Our Commitment to Diversity

We are committed to inclusive hiring and strongly encourage applicants from diverse and underrepresented gender and caste identities and/or sociocultural backgrounds to apply for this role. Our organisational policies are gender-neutral, including the POSH policy and leave policy. We provide 6 months of paid time off as parental leave for the primary caregiver and 6 weeks of paid time off for the secondary caregiver, including adoption.

Our Hiring Process

The entire hiring process averages between 3-4 weeks and consists of the following simple steps:

If you are shortlisted, we will have an Introductory discussion to know better and check your fitment and interest

Based on how our discussion goes, we’ll give you a take-home assignment, and you have a week to follow up with your submission.

Assignment Discussion: Here, you’ll share your screen and collaborate with our team to further enhance your assignment outcomes. The discussion typically runs for 60 to 90 minutes. Based on the inputs from the team, we will make a decision in 1–2 days.

If all goes well, we’ll have a final ‘Culture Discussion’ round, and you get to meet the rest of the team