Lead Python Engineer (with GenAI Experience)

We are looking for a Python Tech Lead to take ownership of backend architecture, technical leadership, code quality, and team development.

You will work on complex backend systems, design scalable architectures, and lead a talented engineering team, collaborating closely with business stakeholders to translate requirements into robust technical solutions.

You will play a key role in shaping the product roadmap, making strategic architecture decisions, and ensuring that delivery aligns with business goals.

A key component of the initiative is the development of internal AI-powered capabilities, including a generic chatbot and voice-to-text features. You will provide technical leadership for AI integrations, ensuring scalable, maintainable, and performant systems. Basic German is a plus, but your expertise in strategy, technical leadership, and hands-on delivery is what matters most.

Why Join Us:

• Lead a high-impact project with real public-sector relevance
• Take ownership of architecture and system design end-to-end
• Influence the product roadmap and technical direction
• Work with a talented, collaborative engineering team
• Contribute to AI-driven, innovative features with large-scale impact

Responsibilities:

• Own backend architecture and technical decisions for scalable, high-load systems
• Lead the team in designing, implementing, and maintaining backend services and APIs
• Guide technical design reviews, code quality, and engineering best practices
• Balance hands-on development (~40–60%) with leadership and mentoring (~40–60%)
• Oversee scalability, performance optimization, and reliability of production systems
• Lead incident response, bug fixing, and production issue resolution
• Provide technical guidance for AI/LLM-powered features, such as chatbots and voice-to-text integration
• Collaborate closely with Product, Frontend, and AI/ML teams to translate requirements into technical solutions
• Drive adoption of observability, monitoring, and testing standards across the team
• Mentor and support engineers to foster team growth and knowledge sharing

Must-Have Skills:

• 5+ years experience in Software Development and 2+ years in Tech Lead / Team Lead roles on large-scale software projects
• Strong product mindset with experience in team organization, task prioritization, and project planning
• Ability to make and own technical and architectural decisions
• Strong problem-solving and proactive approach
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for cross-team collaboration
• Strong analytical and organizational abilities; able to manage dependencies, risks, and cross-team planning
• Hands-on experience with Python 3, including asynchronous programming
• Experience with backend frameworks (FastAPI, Django DRF)
• Experience designing and developing microservices or modular architectures
• Strong knowledge of relational (PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (Redis, MongoDB) databases
• Experience with vector storage (e.g., Qdrant)
• Understanding of testing strategies (pytest, TDD/BDD principles)
• Familiarity with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and production deployments
• Strong experience with Kubernetes and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Knowledge of clean code principles, SOLID, typing (mypy, Pydantic)
• Experience with scalability, production monitoring, and incident management
• Experience building GenAI or LLM-powered products

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Experience with public-sector or government digital transformation projects
• Familiarity with LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar tooling
• Experience with open-source LLMs (LLaMA, Mistral, Mixtral)
• Experience in high-growth startup environments
• Knowledge of cost optimization for AI inference and infrastructure
• Basic German language skills for team onboarding and future customer projects