Lead Software Engineer - Backend (Python)

About the role

AppliedAI, an AI technology company based in Abu Dhabi, is hiring a Lead Software Engineer for its Opus platform, a Knowledge Work AI platform built around supervised automation. The role owns significant workstreams from architecture through production deployment, leads a small cross-functional team of about four engineers and stays hands-on with complex backend systems. It is described as a 70% technical, 30% leadership position.

Key responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of workstreams, from requirements and architecture to deployment and iteration, and set architectural standards (API design, data modelling, service boundaries).
• Design and build scalable Python microservices with event-driven and asynchronous architectures, and high-performance REST APIs with FastAPI, Flask or similar.
• Lead real-time data streaming and messaging (Kafka, RabbitMQ, Redis Streams) and asynchronous task processing (Celery, RQ).
• Govern ETL workflows and data pipelines (Airflow, Prefect, Dagster) and drive database design and optimisation for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis.
• Ensure observability with logging, tracing and monitoring, and champion code quality, testing, documentation and code reviews.
• Mentor and lead a team of about four engineers, partner with product managers, frontend engineers, ML teams and DevOps, and communicate status and risks to stakeholders.
• Champion CI/CD, Docker and Kubernetes deployment, and keep up with backend engineering and AI-assisted development tools.

Required profile

• 8-10+ years of software engineering experience, with strong seniority in backend and distributed systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams or workstreams, and owning complex production projects end-to-end.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Required skills

• Deep expertise in Python; TypeScript and Node.js (NestJS, Next.js) is advantageous.
• SQL (PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis); authentication and authorisation (OAuth2, JWT, RBAC).
• Git, Docker, CI/CD; Kubernetes and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) are a plus.
• Sufficient frontend exposure (React, Next.js or similar) to lead a mixed backend/frontend team.

What we offer

• Career growth and professional development opportunities.
• 21 days of paid annual leave and comprehensive private health insurance.
• Visa sponsorship for international candidates.