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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Software Engineering Lead - Data Services - **Company:** FIRMABLE INC. - **Location:** United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Reference Implementation, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Code Review, Data as a Services, Data Infrastructure, Cursor (Graphical User Interface Elements), Amazon DynamoDB, Fault Tolerance, Python (Programming Language), PostgreSQL, NoSQL, Software Engineering, SQL Databases, Large Language Models, Snowflake, Backend, Fastapi, Api Design, Restful APIs, Web Api - **Published:** September 10, 2026 - **Apply:** https://arc.dev/remote-jobs/j/redirect/pj29ow2q3q ## About the Role Must Haves * 7-10 years hands-on backend engineering, including time leading engineers or engineering leads with 3+ years of hands on experience with Python. * Built and operated large-scale production systems - millions of API calls, and you know what breaks first when load grows * Expert Python with deep production experience in FastAPI * Shipped AI/LLM services, APIs, and agents in production - and stood up the evals that keep them trustworthy * Harness engineering experience - you've built the scaffolding agents run inside: tool-calling frameworks, MCP servers, eval and test harnesses other engineers depend on, and you can walk us through it in detail * Hands-on data modelling across SQL and NoSQL * Designed and consumed RESTful services at scale * Shipped real work with agentic IDEs - Claude Code, Cursor, or equivalent. Not "tried it" - your default mode ## Description As Software Engineering Lead, you'll own the function that designs, builds, and operates the backend services, RESTful APIs, and AI/LLM systems powering every Firmable product. You'll lead two engineering pods through their team leads while staying deeply hands-on yourself. Reporting to the Head of Data & Services. This is not a people-management seat. ~80% hands-on architecture and engineering, ~20% leading the function. You whiteboard the system, write the reference implementation, then raise the whole team to that bar. If you want to step away from the code, this isn't it. What You'll Own * Backend and API architecture - Firmable's Python services (FastAPI, Pydantic, Logfire): the secure, well-documented backbone every product, internal agent, and external customer depends on * Data modelling - schemas, access patterns, and integrity at scale across PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and DynamoDB * AI/LLM services and agents - production systems that are fast, idempotent, observable, and cost-bounded; every LLM call a named, versioned tool with prompts, schemas, traces, and evals * Harness engineering - the agent runtime the team builds on: tool-calling and MCP server layers, structured-output validation, bounded agentic loops, sandboxed execution, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, replayable traces * Eval harnesses - scorers, labelled sets, trajectory and multi-turn evals, LLM-as-judge calibration, regression suites in CI, drift detection on vendor model updates * Scale and reliability - systems serving millions of API calls: idempotency, caching, rate limits, cost ceilings, circuit breakers, bounded retries, graceful degradation * Observability standard - structured traces, p50/p95/p99 by stage, cost per request, and the dashboards that make it legible * Function leadership - lead and grow two pods through their leads; run architecture and code reviews; set the bar for quality, testing, and AI-native practice * Cross-functional glue - connect Data Platform, Application, and Product; turn early ideas into architecture decisions and working prototypes fast ## Related Videos - [Intro to FastAPI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/462-intro-to-fastapi) - [From Messy Queries to Scalable Systems - How Data Engineering actually works](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100203-from-messy-queries-to-scalable-systems-how-data-engineering-actually-works) - [Web APIs you might not know about](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/281-web-apis-you-might-not-know-about) - [Leveraging Real time data in FSIs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/806-leveraging-real-time-data-in-fsis) - [Building and Deploying Multi-Agent Systems with ADK and Vertex AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1918-building-and-deploying-multi-agent-systems-with-adk-and-vertex-ai) - [Project Fugu: Extending the web](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/832-project-fugu-extending-the-web) ## Related Articles - [The 7 Most Popular Backend Frameworks for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/403-the-7-most-popular-backend-frameworks-for-developers) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift)