Senior Backend Engineer

Ashworth and Parker Limited; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation structure

Bonus opportunities

Job summary

A tech startup is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to scale backend systems using Django and enhance integrations for a mobile app and web platform. Key responsibilities include building high-quality backends, collaborating on architecture decisions, and developing APIs. The ideal candidate has deep Django app experience and a strong grasp of REST API design, with habits prioritized around testing and stability. This role offers a competitive salary and bonus opportunities.

Qualifications

• Deep experience building production Django apps.
• Strong knowledge of Django REST Framework.
• Experience integrating with third-party APIs.
• Strong testing habits (Django Test Framework, pytest-django).

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain high-quality backend systems using Django.
• Design and refine database schemas and data models.
• Develop reliable REST APIs for mobile apps and web platforms.
• Collaborate with engineering leadership on architecture.

Skills

Django

REST API design

PostgreSQL

Problem-solving

Docker

CI/CD

Tools

Redis

GitHub Actions

Sentry

Job description

We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer with deep Django and API experience to help build and scale the backend powering our mobile app, web platform, internal tools, payments, automation systems, and integrations.

You’ll operate as the senior backend IC leading implementation, while collaborating closely with our engineering leadership on architecture, larger decisions, and long-term direction. Over time, you’ll take on increasing ownership of backend systems and engineering standards.

This role demands reliability, strong problem-solving, and the ability to figure things out independently without compromising system stability.

ABOUT URBAN LEGEND:

Urban Legend is a tech startup that’s redefining influencer marketing for public affairs and advocacy campaigns. The Urban Legend Exchange is an invite-only platform where advertisers run campaigns that mobilize creators to drive meaningful and measurable actions in support of issues that matter.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Build and maintain high-quality backend systems using Django, Django REST Framework, and PostgreSQL
• Improve and optimize complex Django Admin workflows to make our internal tools faster, more usable, and more robust
• Design and refine database schemas, migrations, and data models for complex business logic
• Develop reliable REST APIs consumed by our mobile apps, web platform, and partner integrations
• Implement and maintain integrations with critical third-party APIs (Stripe, PayPal, Twilio, SendGrid, AWS S3, OpenAI, social platforms, Zapier, and more)
• Manage async/background tasks using Redis, RQ, and related tooling
• Work closely with the Product Design Lead and frontend engineers to ensure requirements are clear, feasible, and technically sound
• Collaborate with the engineering leadership — reviewing architecture, aligning on best practices, and planning backend evolution
• Participate in on-call rotation and help diagnose/resolve production issues when needed
• Write high-quality tests (unit, integration) and maintain a stable CI pipeline
• Contribute to performance improvements across the stack — query optimization, caching strategies, and backend efficiency
• Help establish backend engineering standards as we grow the team
• Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance speed, quality, and long-term maintainability

WHAT YOU’LL BRING:

• Deep experience building production Django apps
• Strong knowledge of Django REST Framework
• Ability to design and optimize complex Django models, queries, and admin workflows
• Comfortable with advanced ORM features and occasional raw SQL

Databases

• Confidence navigating complex data flows and migrations

APIs & Integrations

• Experience with REST API design and documentation
• Experience integrating with third-party APIs and handling webhook systems
• Ability to diagnose and debug flaky or unreliable integrations
  
• Redis + job queue experience (RQ, Celery, or similar)
• Understanding of task workers, retries, failure handling, and monitoring

Security & Auth

• Familiarity with JWT-based auth, rate limiting, secure data flows, and general Django security best practices

DevOps & Tooling

• Comfortable working with Docker
• Experience deploying to Heroku or similar platforms
• Familiar with GitHub Actions or other CI systems
• Understanding of logging, monitoring, and error tracking (Sentry, etc.)

Testing & Quality

• Strong testing habits (Django Test Framework, pytest-django)
• Familiar with Factory Boy, Faker, or similar tools
• Won’t ship code without understanding its impact on stability

BENEFITS:

• Competitive compensation structure and bonus opportunities