Senior Backend Developer

We're seeking a Senior Backend Developer with deep Django expertise and technical leadership experience to architect scalable systems. The ideal candidate will be a technical entrepreneur who can design robust backend architectures, make strategic technology decisions, and mentor engineering teams while translating complex business requirements into efficient, maintainable code

• Architect scalable systems that can grow from hundreds to millions of users
  

• Make critical technical decisions that balance speed, cost, and long-term maintainability
  

• Lead technical planning and roadmap discussions with business stakeholders
  

• Evaluate and integrate new technologies based on business impact, not just technical merit
  

• Build and mentor high-performing engineering teams in a resource-constrained environment
  

• Translate complex agricultural domain problems into elegant technical solutions
  

• Design data architectures that support both current needs and future business expansion
  

• Establish engineering practices that maximize team velocity without sacrificing quality
  

• Drive technical initiatives that directly contribute to company growth and user acquisition
  

• Partner with leadership to make build-vs-buy decisions and resource allocation
  

• Implement monitoring and alerting systems that prevent business-critical failures
  

• Lead incident response and post-mortem processes that improve system resilience
  

• Expert-level Django/Python backend development
  

• Advanced database design and optimization
  

• Strong understanding of API development
  

• DevOps experience (Docker, CI/CD, cloud platforms)
  

• Cloud platform expertise (AWS/GCP)
  

• System design and scalability planning
  

• Security best practices and DevSecOps implementation
  

• Git version control and team collaboration tools
  

• Experience with data processing and analytics
  

• Minimum 5 years of backend development experience
  

• Proven track record of leading technical projects
  

• Experience mentoring developers and building teams
  

• Background in startup or scale-up environments
  

• Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into technical solutions
  

• Previous experience with system architecture and technical leadership
  

• Ability to engage with non-technical stakeholders and translate business requirements into technical specifications
  

• Comfortable collaborating beyond your core expertise to cover full-stack needs in a lean team.
  

• Mission-driven mindset (interest in agriculture/food systems or social impact).
  

• Comfort working in a hybrid culture (Swiss HQ + East African hub).
  

• Strong sense of ownership and initiative in a small, high-trust team.
  

• Business-minded technical decision making that considers ROI and company objectives
  

• Ability to communicate technical complexity to non-technical stakeholders.
  

• Experience managing technical debt while delivering features under tight deadlines
  

• Strong instincts for when to optimize vs when to ship quickly in startup environments
  

• Capability to evaluate technical risks and their business implications
  

• Leadership skills to guide teams through ambiguous problems with limited resources
  

• Strategic thinking that balances short-term delivery with long-term architectural health
  

• Entrepreneurial mindset with understanding of how technology drives business value