Principal Backend Engineer (Python/Django)

8+ years of experience with Python 3 and Django REST Framework (1+ year working/employed at Principal level is a must) Deep understanding of Django internals, ORM optimization, and REST API design Proven experience architecting distributed systems and asynchronous processing with Celery Strong PostgreSQL expertise (schema design, indexing, query optimization) Production experience with observability stacks: Sentry, Datadog, Grafana Experience designing or maintaining multi-service or microservice architectures Comfortable working in Git-based workflows (GitLab preferred) Excellent communication, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration skills

Lead cross-product backend initiatives and scalable architecture design across multiple services. Collaborate with senior leadership to align on system design, coding standards, and performance practices. Architect and evolve Django REST, Celery, and PostgreSQL systems for scalability, reliability, and data integrity. Introduce and evaluate new technologies that deliver measurable technical or business value. Mentor engineers through code reviews, design sessions, and technical guidance. Drive best practices in observability and performance optimization using tools like Sentry, Datadog, and Grafana. Partner with DevOps to standardize tracing, monitoring, and alerting across environments. Enforce quality standards via robust testing, CI/CD, and periodic technical audits. Ensure production readiness and reliability through rigorous design and code review processes. Collaborate effectively across engineering, product, and QA teams to deliver end-to-end excellence.