Python Engineer (DRWN)

Darwin Recruitment; Amsterdam; Remote; EUR 83,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

Darwin Recruitment seeks a Backend Python Engineer for an Amsterdam-based HR tech platform. This freelance contract runs 10 months with potential extension, and offers 100% remote work with occasional office visits a couple of times a month.

You will own the backend REST API, drive scaling improvements, introduce async processing, map customer configurations to the new system, and integrate with third-party HR tools.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of commercial Python on large, complex codebases.
• Hands-on REST API development with FastAPI, Django or Flask.
• Strong AWS experience, including Kubernetes (EKS) and PostgreSQL (RDS).
• Solid relational database skills, including SQL query optimisation.
• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, CircleCI or GitLab CI).
• A strong testing habit with pytest or similar.
• Ownership from design through to delivery, including architectural decisions.
• Enough React to pick up light frontend work.
• Fluent English and confidence working directly with non-technical teams such as finance and customer success.

Responsibilities

• Own backend REST API and drive scaling of critical services.
• Introduce async processing and optimize performance.
• Map existing configurations to the new system to enable migration automation.
• Integrate with third-party HR systems and extend the platform.
• Collaborate with frontend and product teams to deliver end-to-end features.

Skills

Python

REST API development

AWS

Kubernetes (EKS)

PostgreSQL

SQL optimization

CI/CD pipelines

Testing with pytest

Frontend basics (React)

Fluent English

CET time zone EU

Fintech / payments knowledge

Tools

FastAPI/Django/Flask

GitHub Actions

CircleCI

GitLab CI

Celery

SQS

RabbitMQ

React (light frontend)

Job description

Backend Python Engineer (DRWN)

Job title – Backend Python Engineer

Client Location – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Remote work offering – 100% (optional office visits a couple of times a month)

Client Industry – Employee Benefits / HR Tech

Contract Length – 10 months (extendable)

Contract type – Freelance

Project focus

An established employee benefits platform needs to scale ahead of a large customer migration. Joining a small, independent platform team working in Python and React, you’ll identify and fix scaling bottlenecks, introduce async processing where it’s missing, and map existing customer configurations to the new system to drive migration automation. You’ll also own the backend REST API for a self-service customer portal, integrate with third-party HR systems and extend the existing transactional platform. The work is roughly 90% backend and 10% frontend.

Key skills and Experience required

• 5+ years of commercial Python on large, complex codebases
• Hands-on REST API development with FastAPI, Django or Flask
• Strong AWS experience, including Kubernetes (EKS) and PostgreSQL (RDS)
• Solid relational database skills, including SQL query optimisation
• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, CircleCI or GitLab CI)
• A strong testing habit with pytest or similar
• Ownership from design through to delivery, including architectural decisions
• Enough React to pick up light frontend work
• Fluent English and confidence working directly with non-technical teams such as finance and customer success
• Based in Europe within CET ±2 hours and available to start by 1 December
• Desirable: fintech, payments or ledger experience, data migrations, async queues (Celery, SQS, RabbitMQ), third-party HR API integrations, Dutch