Backend Developer

hlb; Malaysia; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Hong Leong Bank is seeking an experienced backend engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable Python-based services, primarily using FastAPI. You will integrate LLMs and AI/ML models into production workflows, develop RAG and semantic search capabilities, and build reliable AI-driven data processing pipelines.

You will collaborate with frontend, ML, data science, and DevOps teams, deploying services on cloud platforms with Docker and CI/CD to ensure performance, reliability, and cost

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with backend focus.
• Proficiency in Python and frameworks such as FastAPI, Django, or Flask.
• Hands-on production experience with AI/ML or LLM-powered applications.
• Experience with RAG, embeddings, vector databases, semantic search, or AI agents.
• Familiarity with OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or LiteLLM.
• Strong REST APIs, databases, async programming, and distributed systems.
• Experience with PostgreSQL/MySQL; knowledge of MongoDB/Redis helpful.
• Experience with Docker, cloud platforms, and CI/CD.
• Understanding of testing, security, monitoring, and code quality.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services and APIs using Python, primarily FastAPI.
• Integrate LLMs and AI/ML models into production apps and workflows.
• Develop RAG, vector search, semantic search, embeddings, and AI agents.
• Design and maintain reliable data processing, async, and AI workflows.
• Deploy and optimize AI/backend services for performance, cost, and reliability.
• Work with databases, cloud infrastructure, Docker, and CI/CD to support production systems.
• Collaborate with frontend, ML, data science, and DevOps teams to deliver end-to-end AI solutions.

Skills

Python

FastAPI

AI/ML prod

REST APIs

Unit testing

Distributed systems

CI/CD

Data processing

Cloud platforms

Testing security

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE/Data Science

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

PostgreSQL

Redis

Git

MongoDB

Job description

If you are looking to excel and make a difference, take a closer look at us...

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services and APIs using Python, primarily FastAPI.
• Integrate LLMs and AI/ML models into production applications and backend workflows.
• Develop RAG, vector search, semantic search, embeddings, and AI agent solutions.
• Design and maintain reliable data processing, asynchronous, and AI workflows.
• Deploy and optimize AI/backend services for performance, scalability, reliability, and cost.
• Work with databases, cloud infrastructure, Docker, and CI/CD to support production systems.
• Collaborate with frontend engineers, ML engineers, data scientists, and DevOps teams to deliver end-to-end AI solutions.

Qualifications & Skills

Required Experience

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong backend development experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience with FastAPI, Django, or Flask.
• Hands-on experience building and deploying AI/ML or LLM-powered applications in production.
• Practical experience with RAG, embeddings, vector databases, semantic search, or AI agents.
• Familiarity with LLM platforms and tools such as OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or LiteLLM.
• Strong knowledge of REST APIs, databases, asynchronous programming, concurrency, and distributed systems.
• Experience with PostgreSQL/MySQL and familiarity with MongoDB/Redis.
• Experience with Docker, cloud platforms, and CI/CD.
• Good understanding of software engineering best practices, including testing, security, monitoring, and code quality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Go/Golang or other backend programming languages.
• Experience deploying and optimizing open-source LLMs and model-serving infrastructure.
• Experience with LLM fine-tuning using PyTorch, Hugging Face, LoRA/QLoRA, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, MLOps, or serverless architectures.
• Experience with AI/model serving tools such as vLLM, TensorRT, or Triton.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.

About Hong Leong Bank

We are a leading financial institution in Malaysia backed by a century of entrepreneurial heritage. Providing comprehensive financial services guided by a Digital-at-the-Core ethos has earned us industry recognition and accolades for our innovative approach in making banking simpler and more effortless for our customers. Our digital and physical offerings span across a vast nationwide network in Malaysia, strengthened with an expanding regional presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.

We seek to strike a balance between diversity, inclusion and merit to achieve our mission of infusing diversity in thinking and skillsets into our organisation. Candidates are assessed based on merit and potential, in line with our mission to attract and recruit the best talent available. Expanding on our "Digital at the Core" ethos, we are progressively digitising the employee journey and experience to provide a strong foundation for our people to drive life-long learning, achieve their career aspirations and grow talent from within our organisation.