Backend Developer (AI, Python)

Luxoft; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Luxoft is seeking a Backend Developer to join a team building scalable, cloud-native Python APIs on Microsoft Azure for a major US insurer. You will own services end to end from development through deployment on AKS, with a focus on monitoring, observability and reliability in production.

You will work at the intersection of classic backend engineering and GenAI integration, exposing enterprise capabilities to AI agents via MCP servers and collaborating with stakeholders across the organization.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional backend development with Python.
• Experience building production REST APIs with FastAPI, including async programming.
• Experience with MCP/MCP server or strong ramp-up ability.
• Azure experience: AKS, Cosmos DB, Redis.
• Docker and Kubernetes deployment experience.
• CI/CD with GitHub Actions.
• Observability tools: Azure Monitor, Application Insights, OpenTelemetry.
• English at least B2 and strong communication with US stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain scalable REST APIs and backend services in Python.
• Build MCP servers using FastMCP to expose data to AI agents.
• Model data access patterns for Azure Cosmos DB with partitioning and throughput.
• Implement caching with Azure Cache for Redis.
• Containerize with Docker and deploy on AKS.
• Create CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, include tests and security scans.
• Implement monitoring and observability via Azure Monitor, OpenTelemetry.
• Own full service lifecycle from design to production support and incident handling.
• Apply secure coding and enterprise security standards.
• Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, architects, frontend engineers and QA.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to backend standards.

Skills

Python

Async programming

REST APIs

English communication

GenAI integration

Security best practices

Code reviews

Tools

FastAPI

Azure

AKS

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cache for Redis

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

OpenTelemetry

Prometheus / Grafana

Job description

Project Description

We are looking for a Backend Developer to join a team building scalable, cloud-native services for a major US insurance provider. You will design and deliver high-performance Python APIs on Microsoft Azure, own services end to end from development through deployment on AKS, and make sure they are well monitored, observable and reliable in production. The platform also exposes enterprise capabilities to AI agents through MCP servers, so you will work at the intersection of classic backend engineering and modern GenAI integration.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain scalable, high-performance REST APIs and backend services using Python and FastAPI.
• Build and maintain MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers using FastMCP to expose enterprise data and tools to AI agents and LLM-based applications.
• Design data models and access patterns for Azure Cosmos DB, with attention to partitioning, throughput (RU) efficiency and consistency.
• Implement caching strategies with Azure Cache for Redis to improve performance and reduce load on downstream systems.
• Containerize services with Docker and deploy and operate them on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, including automated testing, security scanning and deployments.
• Implement monitoring and observability: structured logging, distributed tracing, metrics, dashboards and alerting (Azure Monitor, Application Insights, OpenTelemetry).
• Own the full service lifecycle: design, implementation, testing, deployment, production support and incident troubleshooting.
• Apply secure coding practices and enterprise security standards, including secrets management and secure service-to-service communication.
• Use AI-assisted development tools (Claude, Codex) to accelerate delivery while maintaining high code quality.
• Collaborate with client stakeholders, architects, frontend engineers and QA to deliver end-to-end features.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to backend architecture and engineering standards.

Mandatory Skills Description

• 4+ years of professional backend development experience with a strong focus on Python.
• Solid experience building production REST APIs with FastAPI, including async programming, Pydantic models, dependency injection and API versioning.
• Hands‑on experience with FastMCP or MCP server development, or strong interest and demonstrable ability to ramp up quickly.
• Practical experience with Microsoft Azure, including AKS, Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Cache for Redis.
• Experience with Docker and deploying containerized applications to Kubernetes (Helm or similar tooling is a plus).
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions.
• Hands‑on experience with observability tooling such as Azure Monitor, Application Insights, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus or Grafana.
• Good understanding of scalable system design: caching, rate limiting, retries, idempotency and horizontal scaling.
• Experience with automated testing (pytest, integration and contract testing).
• Daily, confident use of VS Code and AI coding assistants such as Claude and Codex.
• Strong understanding of software engineering best practices: clean code, code review, Git workflows.
• Upper-Intermediate (B2) or higher English, with the ability to communicate directly with US-based stakeholders.

Nice-to-Have Skills Description

• Experience in the insurance or broader financial services domain.
• Experience integrating LLMs (Azure OpenAI, OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude) into backend services.
• Familiarity with Azure services such as API Management, Key Vault, Service Bus or Event Grid.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Bicep).
• Knowledge of authentication and authorization with Azure AD / Entra ID, OAuth 2.0 and managed identities.
• Familiarity with data privacy and compliance requirements for handling PII in regulated industries.

Languages

• English: B2 Upper Intermediate