Principal Software Engineer - Python
Posted
Summary
Lead-level Python backend engineer for a biomedical data platform in Lahore: designs Django/FastAPI services, PostgreSQL and Azure SQL data architecture, Airflow ETL pipelines, and CI/CD on Azure, while mentoring a 5+ person team and serving as the technical escalation point for production issues.
Qualification:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
Experience:
6-7 years of production-level software development experience with a strong focus on Python-based backend systems, relational databases with supporting experience in React.js and D3.js-based frontend/data visualization, and scalable architecture design for data-driven applications.
Primary Technical Skills
- Expert in Python, min. 5+ years of production experience
- Expert-level experience with the following technologies and platforms:
- PostgreSQL database development, including schema design, relational data modeling, indexing, joins, stored functions, views, query optimization, and performance tuning
- Airflow-supported ETL/data-ingestion workflows and data warehouse integration
- SQL Server / Azure SQL, including stored procedures, views, data models, query optimization, reporting, and analytical workflows
- Microsoft Azure, including Azure Functions, Azure Queues, Azure Log Analytics, Azure SQL, and cloud-based backend processing
- Event-driven processing, asynchronous workflows, and backend integration patterns
- Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipelines, environment promotion, release coordination, and deployment reliability
- Git, code review workflows, branching strategies, and collaborative software delivery
- Containers, Linux / command shells, scripting, and production support tooling
- PostHog for application analytics, product insights, and usage tracking
- Technical escalation points for complex backend, database, data-processing, and production issues
- Lead and mentor engineering teams through design discussions, code reviews, task breakdown, debugging support, release planning, and technical communication with product and client stakeholders.
Architecture
- Design, document, and implement scalable backend and data-processing architecture for a biomedical data platform, including Python Django and FastAPI services and frontend integrations using React.js and D3.js
- Own project-level technical direction across API design, data contracts, ingestion workflows, analytics pipelines, cloud services, and integration patterns, ensuring solutions are maintainable, extensible, and capable of scaling across application, data warehouse, reporting, and client-facing use cases.
- Architect reusable backend, messaging, analytics, and data-processing components designed for long-term maintainability, observability, and scale.
Process / Product / Management
- Led teams of 5+ engineers in production environments for 3+ years while also contributing directly to the code base
Other Skills / Responsibilities
- Fluent in English, expert communication skills - can understand complex technical issues and summarize in plain language
- Business acumen - ability to understand not only technical but also business needs, and be able to code/architect solutions that help push the company forward
- Direct code contributor - coding more complex tasks and/or features to improve quality and throughput
- Available for stakeholders, clients, and production-critical discussions as needed
- On-call production support - to work with DevOps/etc, to establish production coverage for any outages, including communicating issues, debugging/troubleshooting, and getting other engineers/DevOps involved.
- Work closely with the client to establish processes, architecture, software backlog, etc