Senior Engineer (Python Backend)

Potato; London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000

Job description

London/ UK Remote

About the Role:

As a Senior Engineer, you will be an expert in a specific field, primarily focused on working with that technology throughout your working day. You will work effectively both in collaboration and independently, mentoring others in relation to your specialist field. You will spend the majority of your time coding and will be heavily involved in making key architectural decisions throughout your project’s lifecycle. As part of one of our friendly, supportive, proactive Agile product teams, you’ll be working closely with fellow developers, designers, and other team members. Our teams are self-organising, with the freedom to define their own ways of working.

You will provide high value to Potato by taking a leadership role in medium-sized projects or large features, leading their scoping, planning, and delivery. If you are keen on working closely with the wider team, such as clients and external stakeholders, there will be opportunities to do so, but it is not required for this role.

Most of our products are web-based and use Python (and occasionally Node) on the server, most often Django on Google App Engine (sometimes Firebase, AWS, or Azure). We use a mix of relational and non-relational databases and other cloud services. We aim to strike a balance between leveraging our existing strengths and exploring new tech. While this listing focuses on Python, we try to avoid silos: our developers are encouraged to contribute to any part of a system they’d like to.

Accountabilities:

1. Delivering a very high standard of technical work and supporting your team in doing the same (e.g., encouraging best practices and ensuring a high-quality codebase).
2. Keeping up to date with the industry, community, and ecosystem surrounding your specialism.
3. Raising standards of your specialism across Potato, including related factors such as libraries, frameworks, and tooling, e.g., through mentoring, running or organising training, talks, knowledge sharing, and consulting.
4. Raising Potato’s profile in relation to your specialism, e.g., through blog posts, meet-ups, conferences, and workshops.
5. Advocating for your specialism and providing strong guidance on technical decisions around it for your studio’s projects, and assisting the team’s decision-making in this area.
6. Developing and maintaining a shared vision and consistency for your specialism across the company.

About You:

We expect developers at Potato to be able to find creative solutions to technical problems and user needs while also finding opportunities to optimise and simplify software. For this role, we’re looking for someone with long-term proven experience in developing complex web applications in Python and the ability to be a leader in their chosen specialism. You should have experience deploying code to a PaaS such as Google App Engine. You must have an appreciation of the full web stack, as well as an appreciation of current trends in both backend and frontend web technologies, and have an understanding of best practices including testing, security, accessibility, and code quality.

You Must Have:

• Proven production experience building for the web using Python
• Detailed knowledge and long-term experience with a backend Python framework such as Flask, Django, or FastAPI
• Proven experience of model design on relational databases
• Proven experience creating secure and well-designed APIs
• Knowledge of testing, QA tools and methodologies
• An understanding of security vulnerabilities and how to prevent them
• A high-level understanding of frontend development

Ideally Also:

• Experience with Google App Engine or a similar PaaS
• Experience launching high-quality digital products
• Proven experience of model design on non-relational databases
• Proven experience building for scale: high traffic, big data, large feature sets
• Proven front-end web or native app development skills
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban
• Expertise in developing software in an area outside the Web (e.g., Game development, mobile development etc.)

About Us:

Potato is a digital product agency, we partner with companies looking for more purposeful outcomes. Our people and values, together with our innovation expertise, inspire teams to make a difference in the products they create. We’ve won some of the industry’s most well-recognised creative awards such as Cannes Lions and Clios, and our people are regularly named within leagues such as the BIMA 100. In the past 12 months, more than a billion people globally have used a product created by Potato. We also work hard to be a great employer - a place where our people are proud to work. In 2021, we were officially recognised as a Best Company to Work For, named within the Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For. Everything we do, from the briefs we crack to the innovative solutions we develop, it’s all born out of a truly great studio. One that’s free from ego, packed with creative mojo, and topped off with a collaborative spirit. To find out more about our culture visit here.

Inclusivity:

We want to make our hiring as inclusive as possible; this job description has been reviewed by a range of employees and has passed a neutral language check. We have also reviewed our hiring process to make sure it offers flexibility to candidates who need it.

We welcome you to inform us confidentially at [e-mail] if you require any accommodations to be able to fully participate in our recruitment process.

We're trying to do better and would love your feedback. If you think there's anything we could improve or places you think we should advertise, then please let us know.

Location:

We welcome remote applications within the UK. We already have people in London, Bristol, and Leeds.

Position: Employee

Work Schedule: Full-time

Remote: No

Relocation: No

Salary: £55,000 - £75,000

How to Apply

Position is expired. Thanks for your interest.