Senior Backend Engineer

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can eventually be refuelled in orbit and that can carry cargo - and potentially humans in the longer run.

We want you as a talented Senior Backend Engineer to help us in our mission by designing and building scalable, resilient systems that power our ambitious goals.

Key Responsibilities

In your capacity as a Senior Backend Engineer, your role will be continuously evolving, but day-to-day, your duties will include:

• Owning the architecture and development of a highly scalable, event-driven backend system, ensuring seamless data flow across microservices.

• Building and maintaining APIs using FastAPI, delivering reliable and high-performance interfaces for internal and external stakeholders.

• Defining, managing, and optimizing Internal Software tools infrastructure with a strong focus on scalability, security, and resilience, preferably using AWS services.

• Evolving our AWS serverless architecture by leveraging services such as Lambda, API Gateway, CloudFront, AWS Cognito, DynamoDB, and Opensearch.

• Leading initiatives to improve scalability, reliability, and performance of backend systems while mentoring team members in best practices.

• Collaborating with frontend and infrastructure teams to align backend systems with broader product goals and customer needs.

• Translating mission-critical requirements into technical solutions, balancing complexity, performance, and maintainability.

• Actively contributing to an agile, Scrum-based environment, refining processes, and enhancing team productivity.

What We Would Love to See From You

In the role of Senior Backend Engineer, ideally, you will have the following:

• 5+ years of experience as a Backend Engineer, with a proven track record of building and scaling production systems.

• Deep expertise in event-driven architectures, distributed systems, and microservice design.

• Strong knowledge of software architecture principles and design patterns, with the ability to create robust and maintainable systems.

• Advanced skills with FastAPI or comparable frameworks (Django, Flask), with a strong grasp of API design principles (REST, gRPC).

• Proficiency in Python, with additional experience in another language (e.g., Go, JavaScript) being a plus.

• Familiarity with cloud platforms, preferably AWS, including experience working with serverless technologies like Lambda, API Gateway, Cognito, DynamoDB, and CloudFormation.

• Strong mentoring abilities, with a knack for elevating team performance through knowledge sharing and collaboration.

• Experience working in startups or agile environments, with the ability to adapt and thrive in fast-moving, high-impact scenarios.

• A strong sense of ownership, accountability, and a desire to build systems that scale globally.

Why you should join us!

What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is:

• We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind

• We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them

• We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge?

We'd love to hear from you if you wish to be a part of our journey. Please submit your CV now for immediate consideration and we will be in touch shortly.

The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable.