Lead Backend Engineer
Summary
Lead a small backend team building a climate-tech platform for energy-system modelling in Python, FastAPI/Django, PostgreSQL and cloud infra.
Lead Backend Engineer — Climate Tech Nonprofit
London Hybrid — 2 days in London / 3 remote
Climate impact · Energy-system modelling · Backed by major philanthropic funders
I’m working with a climate-tech nonprofit building software that helps countries plan cleaner, more reliable electricity systems.
This isn’t a standard CRUD backend role.
The team is building Scenario Builder — a platform used for energy-system modelling, grid planning, decarbonisation analysis and long-term infrastructure decisions.
The engineering problems are genuinely interesting: data-heavy backend systems, performance challenges, APIs, infrastructure, modelling workflows and computational problems that have real-world climate impact.
They’re now looking for a Lead Backend Engineer who can stay hands‑on with Python while managing a small team of 3–5 engineers.
This is not a big-company Backend Lead IC role. It’s more of a hands‑on backend squad lead position where you’ll set technical direction, improve backend systems, coach engineers and help scale the platform behind Scenario Builder.
Could be a strong fit if you:
- 7+ years of experience in back-end software development
- Have strong Python backend experience
- Have worked with FastAPI, Django or Flask
- Are comfortable with PostgreSQL, APIs, cloud infrastructure and CI/CD
- Have some technical leadership or line-management experience
- Enjoy mentoring engineers while still staying close to the code
- Care about climate, energy systems or software with real-world impact
- Can balance strong engineering standards with pragmatic delivery
This is a good opportunity for someone who wants more ownership, a stronger leadership path and engineering work that matters beyond commercial optimisation.