Senior Backend Engineer – Cruise

About This Opportunity

Our talent team is representing a confidential maritime intelligence organization seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to join their UK-based engineering team. This is an exceptional opportunity to work on high-volume data systems that process vessel tracking, port intelligence, and global trade flows at scale.

In this role, you'll architect backend services and streaming pipelines that transform raw maritime telemetry into real-time insights. You'll work with modern data infrastructure including Python, PHP, Kafka, PostgreSQL, and ClickHouse, operating with high autonomy in a "you build it, you run it" engineering culture.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain high-throughput backend applications and microservices using Python and PHP
• Leverage Kafka and ClickHouse to stream, process, and analyze massive volumes of real-time maritime tracking data
• Optimize PostgreSQL queries and ClickHouse schema designs for low-latency queries at scale
• Implement robust monitoring, alerting, and observability frameworks while maintaining operational ownership across staging and production environments
• Partner closely with Product Managers, Tech Leads, Cloud Platform teams, and client-facing technical teams to deliver features aligned with customer needs
• Guide peer engineers through technical design reviews, code quality benchmarks, and architectural best practices

What We're Looking For

Required qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience developing, scaling, and maintaining complex production backend systems
• Strong proficiency in Python and PHP with deep experience in relational databases like PostgreSQL
• Hands-on production experience with Apache Kafka and high-performance analytical data stores like ClickHouse
• Proven track record designing RESTful APIs, distributed microservices, and high-concurrency architecture
• Strong background in CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments (Docker/Kubernetes), and production observability/monitoring tools

Preferred qualifications:

• Familiarity with vessel AIS data, geospatial systems, logistics, or global trade datasets
• Track record of refactoring monolithic architectures into event-driven, decoupled microservices
• Experience with AWS cloud services and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform)

How We Work With You

When you apply through Get A Job.ai, our recruiting team will review your profile and conduct an initial screening to understand your background and career goals. If there's a strong match, we'll prepare and submit your candidacy to our client for consideration. We'll support you throughout the interview process and coordinate next steps.

Please apply exclusively through Get A Job.ai—do not contact the client directly, as we are managing this search on their behalf.

Pay

Compensation details will be discussed during the screening process based on experience and qualifications.

Equal Opportunity: Get A Job.ai is committed to inclusive hiring practices. We welcome candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you don't meet every requirement but believe you'd excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.