Lead Python API Engineer

Must be local to TX

Role Overview

• He’s ideally looking for someone with 13+ years of experience, strong architecture depth, and the ability to clearly explain designs.
• Must have experience using AI is used in day‑to‑day development.
• Must have experience as a API Developer to lead the development and deployment of our backend services. In this role, you will be the bridge between our PostgreSQL database and React frontend, responsible not only for writing high-performance Python code but also for architecting the CI/CD pipelines that bring our applications to life. You will ensure our integration layers are scalable, secure, and automatically deployed.

Job Summary

We are seeking a Principal-level Full Stack Lead Developer with 13+ years of experience to drive high-priority engineering workstreams. This role is for a technical heavyweight who can lead new projects in parallel with existing leadership while maintaining exceptional architecture depth. You will be responsible for the full lifecycle of high-performance FastAPI and React applications, ensuring they are resilient, observable, and scalable. We expect a leader who views AI development tools as a force multiplier for velocity and can clearly articulate complex design decisions to stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Sovereignty: Independently lead and deliver new, complex workstreams from inception to launch, acting as a technical peer to existing leadership (e.g., Sai).
• System Architecture: Design and defend distributed microservices and event-driven architectures. You must be able to clearly whiteboard and communicate design patterns to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Hands-on Execution: Maintain high-velocity output of clean, production-grade code using FastAPI (Python) and React (TypeScript).
• Platform Reliability: Architect and implement global Error Handling frameworks, centralized Logging (e.g., OpenTelemetry, ELK), and API Management strategies including Rate Limiting and versioning.
• Event-Driven Messaging: Oversee the implementation of asynchronous service communication using ActiveMQ or AWS EventBridge.
• AI-Augmented SDLC: Deeply integrate AI coding tools (e.g., CloudCode, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) into daily workflows to accelerate prototyping, refactoring, and automated testing.
• Engineering Mentorship: Foster a culture of excellence through rigorous code reviews and by unblocking senior engineers on complex technical hurdles.
• Product Collaboration: Work closely with Product Managers to turn high-level roadmaps into technical reality, providing accurate estimates and identifying technical risks early.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Experience:13+ years of professional software development with a proven track record of leading large-scale products.
• Tech Stack Mastery: Expert-level FastAPI (Async Python) and modern React (Hooks, TypeScript, Performance Profiling).
• Advanced Governance: Hands-on experience with API Gateway patterns, request throttling, and securing distributed systems (OAuth2/JWT).
• Observability & Messaging: Deep knowledge of structured logging, distributed tracing, and message brokers (ActiveMQ or EventBridge).
• AI Tooling: Advanced proficiency in using AI tools for Fast Development to reduce manual overhead and multiply team output.
• Database & Infrastructure: Expert-level PostgreSQL (tuning/indexing), Redis (for caching/rate-limiting), and container orchestration (Kubernetes/Docker).
• Communication: Exceptional ability to translate technical "scars" and architectural risks into clear business impact.