Back End Developer – Web Automation & Data Systems

Rutherford; Durban; Hybrid; ZAR 300 000 - 400 000; Full time

Job summary

A headhunting firm is seeking an experienced back end developer for a 3–6 month contract. The role involves building automated systems that interact with modern websites, requiring a strong grasp of web fundamentals and robust backend skills. The successful candidate will work both in-office and remotely, collaborating in a fast-paced environment. This position offers competitive compensation based on experience and aims to start as soon as possible.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience building and maintaining automated interactions with JavaScript-heavy websites.
• Strong understanding of web fundamentals including client-side JavaScript execution.
• Hands-on experience with browser automation frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain automated systems for collecting structured data.
• Adapt to differing website architectures including client-side rendering.
• Produce clear technical documentation for system behaviour.

Skills

Python for backend development

HTML and DOM structure

JavaScript-heavy websites

Browser automation frameworks (e.g. Playwright, Selenium)

SQL or data manipulation tools (e.g. pandas)

Job description

We are a boutique headhunting firm headquartered in London, seeking an experienced back end developer to deliver high-impact internal technology initiatives on a 3–6 month fixed-term contract. The role is 3 days in our uMhlanga Rocks office, 2 from home.

The role involves building and maintaining backend systems that programmatically interact with modern websites and online platforms, transforming externally sourced data into structured, usable intelligence. Success in this role requires a strong understanding of how contemporary websites operate — including dynamic, client-side behaviour — alongside robust backend and data engineering skills.

The successful candidate will take ownership of projects in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.

The Role

• Design, build, and maintain automated systems that interact programmatically with complex, dynamic websites to collect structured data, with appropriate legal and ethical safeguards.
• Analyse and adapt to differing website architectures, including client-side rendering, asynchronous requests, and stateful interactions.
• Develop resilient automation workflows that tolerate site changes and operational variability.
• Build and maintain backend components for data cleaning, normalisation, storage, and downstream use.
• Ensure automation tools are reliable and usable by non-technical staff through clear execution flows and operational safeguards.
• Improve existing internal tools and workflows through thoughtful backend engineering and automation.
• Produce clear technical documentation describing system behaviour, assumptions, and maintenance considerations.

Required Skills & Experience

• Demonstrable experience building and maintaining automated interactions with modern, JavaScript-heavy websites.
• Strong understanding of web fundamentals, including HTML, DOM structure, client-side JavaScript execution within the browser, asynchronous network requests, and browser behaviour.
• Strong proficiency in Python for backend development, automation, and data processing.
• Hands-on experience with browser automation and web interaction frameworks (e.g. Playwright, Selenium, Scrapy, or similar).
• Experience working with structured data storage and manipulation (SQL, pandas, or equivalent).
• Ability to analyse, debug, and reverse-engineer web behaviour using browser developer tools.
• Ability to reason about and debug client-side behaviour using browser developer tools (e.g. inspecting network requests, runtime state, and DOM mutations).

Desirable Skills

• Experience dealing with bot detection, rate limiting, or other anti-automation measures.
• Familiarity with headless browser environments and automation infrastructure.
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Understanding of data protection, compliance, and ethical considerations.
• Background in professional services, recruitment, or data-driven businesses.

Attributes

• Methodical and analytical when working with opaque or evolving web environments.
• Pragmatic engineer who values robustness and simplicity over complex solutions.
• Comfortable supporting non-technical stakeholders with clear explanations and documentation.

Contract Details

• Type: 3–6 month fixed-term full-time contract with potential to extend.
• Location: Office 3 days/WFH 2.
• Start Date: As soon as possible
• Compensation: Competitive, commensurate with experience