Senior Software Engineer Backend

About Us:

We are a data-driven solutions company building the KYU Intelligence Platform (KIP), delivering actionable insights to drive strategic decisions. Our technology stack spans modern Python backends, React/TypeScript frontends, and REST APIs with GraphQL capabilities. We empower our engineers with AI-assisted development tools like Claude Code, fostering a culture where human expertise and AI augmentation work together to build exceptional software.

Role Overview:

We're seeking a Senior Backend Engineer with an AI-philic mindset to build and scale our platform's core services. You'll design robust APIs, architect scalable systems, and dive deep into database performance and optimization. While your expertise and the majority of your time will be focused on backend systems, you may also contribute to frontend work when project needs require. The ideal candidate has deep Python expertise, strong database internals knowledge, and experience designing systems for scale. You embrace AI-assisted development as a force multiplier while maintaining the technical depth needed to guide and review AI-generated solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement scalable REST APIs and backend services
• Build and maintain data models and database schemas
• Leverage AI assistants effectively while maintaining deep technical understanding, guiding them to produce high-quality, secure backend code
• Analyze query execution plans, optimize indexes, and tune database performance for scale
• Implement authentication, authorization, and security best practices
• Define API contracts in a collaborative development setting
• Contribute to frontend development, in rare cases, when project priorities require
• Write comprehensive tests for backend services and integrations
• Participate in code reviews and mentor junior team members
• Contribute to system architecture design, including distributed systems patterns, caching strategies, and scalability planning
• Profile and benchmark systems to identify bottlenecks and measure performance improvements
• Design data models with consideration for query patterns, storage efficiency, and future scale

Required Skills & Experience:

• 4+ years of professional backend development experience
• Expert-level proficiency in Python 3.13+ with modern practices and type hints
• Strong experience with micro-web-frameworks such as FastAPI or similar
• Deep knowledge of ORM technologies (SQLAlchemy) and understanding of the SQL they generate
• Strong experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL), including query plan analysis, indexing strategies, and performance tuning
• Experience profiling applications and measuring system performance
• Understanding of distributed systems concepts and scalability patterns
• Demonstrated ability to develop effectively without AI assistance, enabling you to guide and review AI-generated code
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools, and openness to using Claude Code
• Understanding of RESTful API design principles and best practices
• Proficiency with Git and collaborative development workflows
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to code quality

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with TypeScript/JavaScript and React or similar frontend frameworks
• Experience in media, marketing, or related industries
• Familiarity with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Understanding of security best practices, authentication/authorization patterns, and compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR)
• Experience with message queues and asynchronous processing
• Background in data engineering or ETL pipelines
• Strong experience with APM and observability tools (Datadog, New Relic, or similar)
• Experience with database administration tasks (vacuuming, replication, partitioning)
• Knowledge of caching systems (Redis, Memcached) and when to apply them
• Experience with load testing and performance benchmarking tools

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits
• Access to cutting-edge AI development tools
• Flexible work arrangements
• Professional development opportunities
• Collaborative and innovative team culture
• Opportunity to work on impactful, data-driven products

**All applications must include a Resume & Cover Letter in English to be considered. 

Kepler is a people first organization. If this roles piques your interest but you may not check every box, we still encourage you to apply! Studies show that imposter syndrome can prevent women and people of color from applying unless they meet every single qualification. We welcome all who are interested to apply, you just might be a great candidate for this role or others.

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Client-provided location(s): Santa Ana, Costa Rica

Job ID: 7576656

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-01-29T23:32:02