Principal Backend Engineer

BigHand; United States; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday + BigHand days off

Private medical

Vision care

Online wellbeing programs

Employee Resource Groups

Wellness day

Volunteer days

Career growth & study leave

Parental leave & fertility support

Pension & life assurance

Cycle to Work & Tech Scheme

Remote work options

Job summary

BigHand is seeking a Principal Backend Engineer to own the data engineering and infrastructure behind Agentic AI systems. This senior IC role focuses on Python and AWS, with leadership responsibilities including mentoring a mid-level backend engineer and shaping technical requirements.

You will work with data scientists and AI engineers to scale data pipelines and integrations across products, enabling more data and better AI capabilities for clients.

Qualifications

• Strong commercial Python experience.
• Solid experience with AWS services and infrastructure.
• Strong working knowledge of databases and SQL.
• Data engineering experience: building and running data pipelines and connecting data into products, ideally in a B2B SaaS environment.
• Experience reconsidering and reshaping an existing architecture as a product or business scales.
• Understanding of modern software development lifecycle practices, including agentic developer experience.
• Ability to navigate problems independently, contribute to discussion and shape requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the Python data pipelines, backend services and AWS infrastructure behind our Agentic AI products.
• Build powerful integrations between Ayora’s platform and BigHand’s wider product suite to expose our Agentic AI systems to more data and help improve the agentic harness.
• Mentor, support and potentially line manage a mid-level backend engineer, helping them progress to senior.
• Contribute to technical discussion and help shape requirements rather than simply consuming them.
• Develop well-constructed solutions using the best tools available, avoiding fragile shortcuts taken for short-term speed.
• Apply modern software development lifecycle practices, including agentic development, code review, testing and continuous delivery

Skills

Python

AWS

SQL

Data pipelines

Architecture

SDLC practices

Independent problem solving

Tools

Terraform

GitLab CI

Job description

About BigHand

BigHand offers technology solutions for busy legal professionals that provide data and insights to increase value and profits. Through our expert knowledge and innovative technology, we enable our customers to achieve enhanced efficiency, better decision-making and harness their competitive edge.

We build with tomorrow in mind, transforming ideas into action and empowering our customers to succeed in a world of constant change. We make big happen for our customers.

We are a business driven by our values and have these at the centre of everything we do. Our BigHanders are dedicated to building a culture where We Win Together, We Love to Learn, We Do the Right Thing, We Own It and We Find the Fun.

About the role

BigHand builds software that legal organisations rely on every day. Following our acquisition of Ayora AI, we are looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to own the data engineering and infrastructure behind our Agentic AI systems. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role at the heart of a small team, taking ownership of the Python and AWS platform that powers them.

We process structured and unstructured data from some of the biggest law firms in the world, using traditional analytical techniques and Agentic AI. Working with our team of data scientists, full-stack AI engineers and legal engineers, you will help us scale these processes to even more customers, and work at the heart of the feature expansion and optimisation of our stack. You will also mentor and support a mid-level backend engineer, helping them grow into a senior role.

Ayora’s Product can be found here: https://www.ayora.ai/

BigHand’s Products can be found here: https://www.bighand.com/en-gb/

What you’ll do

• Own and evolve the Python data pipelines, backend services and AWS infrastructure behind our Agentic AI products.
• Build powerful integrations between Ayora’s platform and BigHand’s wider product suite to expose our Agentic AI systems to more data and help improve the agentic harness.
• Mentor, support and potentially line manage a mid-level backend engineer, helping them progress to senior.
• Contribute to technical discussion and help shape requirements rather than simply consuming them.
• Develop well-constructed solutions using the best tools available, avoiding fragile shortcuts taken for short-term speed.
• Apply modern software development lifecycle practices, including agentic development, code review, testing and continuous delivery

What we’re looking for

Essential

• Strong commercial Python experience. This is a must.
• Solid experience with AWS services and infrastructure.
• Strong working knowledge of databases and SQL.
• Data engineering experience: building and running data pipelines and connecting data into products, ideally in a B2B SaaS environment.
• Experience reconsidering and reshaping an existing architecture as a product or business scales.
• A solid understanding of modern software development lifecycle practices, including agentic developer experience.
• The ability to navigate problems independently, contribute to discussion and help shape technical requirements.

Desirable

• A product mindset and experience working directly with customers.
• Full-stack skills, including TypeScript and React.
• Experience with Go.
• Interest or practical experience in agentic AI and LLMs.
• Exposure to the rest of our DevOps stack: Terraform and GitLab CI.
• Experience mentoring or managing engineers.An analytical background, for example a STEM degree in a technical subject.
• Experience in the legal industry or another regulated environment such as health or financial services.
• An appetite for learning and for introducing new technology and practices that accelerate the team.

Our Stack:

Python/Go and AWS services across data and backend, with SQL and DynamoDB databases underneath. TypeScript and React on the front end, and Terraform and GitLab CI across our DevOps tooling.

What we offer

• 25 days holiday (exc. bank holidays) + 3 BigHand days off between Christmas & New Year
• Various wellbeing benefits including private medical, vision, online wellbeing programs & webinars, access to online therapy and Employee Resource Groups (ERG)
• Company-wide Wellness day, for our teams all across the globe to switch off and spend the day doing something to nourish their mental health
• Opportunities to give back with company volunteer events and individual volunteer days
• Career growth opportunities and study leave allowance
• Family benefits including enhanced parental leave, secondary caregiver leave and fertility support
• Financial benefits including pension scheme, life assurance, and salary sacrificing
• Cycle to Work Scheme and Tech Scheme
• Growing business with a global presence, flexible working, modern offices, and remote work options

Our DEI Commitment

We welcome the unique value and individuality that you can bring to BigHand. We are an equal opportunity employer and are dedicated to recruiting solely based on capability and potential regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, educational background, national origin, religion, military status or physical ability. Our BigHanders are dedicated to advancing our culture of belonging by embracing differing viewpoints, opinions, thoughts, and ideas.