Lead Full Stack Engineer (Python/Django)

About the role

As Liven's Lead Full Stack Engineer, you'll be our technical North Star — guiding architectural decisions, scaling backend systems, and helping shape the future of our Django-based platform. You'll lead the evolution of our core infrastructure to support millions of real-time transactions while delivering next-gen product experiences powered by AI and data.

This is a deeply technical, backend-focused leadership role — ideal for an experienced engineer with deep Python/Django expertise, a passion for clean architecture, and a track record of scaling systems in complex environments.

What you'll do

• Lead the modernisation and scaling of our core platform, with a focus on Django and Python services
• Architect, design, and build secure, scalable full-stack systems with Django + modern frontend frameworks
• Drive backend-first engineering best practices across teams: service boundaries, contracts, and shared libs
• Build and maintain high-performance APIs (REST, GraphQL, WebSockets) to power real-time user experiences
• Deploy event-driven microservices architecture (Kafka / PubSub) and data pipelines
• Integrate AI workflows (code generation, anomaly detection, smart APIs) into the platform
• Partner with Data and AI teams to surface ML-driven insights across the product
• Ensure observability and operational excellence with CI/CD, testing, and monitoring tooling
• Champion backend performance, database optimisation, and uptime (99.9%+)
• Lead engineering rituals — code reviews, mentoring, and architectural decision-making
• Raise the bar on engineering quality and delivery velocity across squads

Qualifications

• 7+ years of backend/full-stack engineering experience, with deep Python (Django) expertise
• Proven success scaling large distributed systems and backend infrastructure
• Strong grasp of API design, event-driven architecture, and asynchronous processing
• Leadership through mentoring, code review, and architectural guidance
• Experience with DevOps tooling, CI/CD, containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Strong database fundamentals — PostgreSQL, Redis, NoSQL, performance tuning
• Familiar with testing and quality frameworks: Pytest, Cypress, Jest
• Observability-first mindset — Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus
• Security-aware — OAuth2, JWT, GDPR, secure coding best practices
• Strategic thinker who thrives in high-autonomy, high-impact roles

Won't-Have

• Acting as a project manager — this is a hands-on technical leadership role
• Working in a siloed frontend-only or backend-only capacity — full-stack with backend bias

Our Stack

• Backend: Python (Django), Node.js, Express
• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js
• Databases: PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB
• Infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS ECS, GCP
• CI/CD & Testing: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Pytest, Cypress, Jest
• Monitoring: Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus
• AI Tools: GitHub Copilot, AWS CodeWhisperer
• APIs: REST, GraphQL, WebSockets

Good to Have

• Experience leading Django monolith microservices transformations
• Exposure to multi-product platforms or multi-tenant SaaS environments
• Familiarity with GraphQL federation, caching strategies, and cost-optimised cloud architecture
• Open-source contributions or technical blogging
• AI/ML product integration experience