Software Engineer Python

Roles and responsibilities

As a Senior Engineer you will liaise with the other backend and frontend engineers within your product stream, the QA team, the design team and your Tech Team Leads. As a senior member of the team, you will be responsible for advancing our development stack and ensuring scale as we grow to millions of monthly active users across many countries.

In this role, you will:

• Hit the ground running - Gather up-to-date and in-depth understanding of the dubizzle code base and technologies stack within weeks;
• Lead planning sessions around new product features, deliver detailed roll-out/roll-back strategies for releases
• Research and apply industry trends as part of your daily work;
• Create unit tests in accordance with our established standards to cover assigned work;
• Write and maintain exemplary code following dubizzle's programming practices;
• Actively contribute in post-release maintenance issues;
• Develop elegant solutions for complex problems;
• Pioneer reliability and efficiency of our current code base, platforms and/or core systems;
• Impact on the direction and scope of dubizzle's technical vision within your stream;
• Work in a mentoring capacity within a peer-programming environment and provide guidance on tasks, irrespective of complexity or scale;
• Code review all major pull requests, defining programming standards and providing constructive feedback
• Design and delivery of multiple REST based APIs and previous exposure to Service Oriented Architecture;
• Capacity to push back requirements when incomplete;
• Handle the entire software development life cycle, end to end;
• Lead product planning meetings and architect solutions within your stream;
• Liaise with the other back end engineers within your product stream, the QA team, design team and your Tech Team Lead;
• Liaise with other tech teams to share innovations from your stream

Requirements

• 6+ years of professional back-end software engineering experience in Python (Django)
• Experience with Cloud hosted infrastructure and Technologies; AWS preferred;
• Prior experience with Kubernetes & Docker will earn you brownie points;
• Experience working on high-traffic and large-scale web products is preferred;
• Experience with web infrastructure, SOA, distributed systems, performance analysis, search infrastructure;
• Been on at least one "death march" and know exactly why some things are to be avoided;
• Strong understanding of design patterns including asynchronous programming, queuing, logging, security and persistence;
• Mastery of different caching layers and strategies including memcached;
• Good understanding of build process management and continuous integration;
• Mastery of testing methodologies (unit tests, component tests, integration tests, etc.);
• Excellent communication & interpersonal skills; This is an absolute must, we have heated debates around complicated subjects and you will be expected to lead conversations around them

Desired candidate profile

1. Software Development and Coding

• Designing and Building Software Solutions: Develop high-quality, scalable, and maintainable software solutions using Python. This can include web applications, backend services, automation scripts, or data processing pipelines.
• Code Optimization: Write efficient, optimized Python code to handle large datasets, complex algorithms, and high-performance requirements.
• Code Review and Best Practices: Review code written by other developers and ensure that it follows best practices and coding standards. Help establish coding guidelines for the team.
• Testing and Debugging: Write unit tests and integration tests to ensure software quality. Debug and fix issues that arise during development and in production environments.

2. Architectural Design and System Integration

• System Architecture: Take part in designing the architecture of software systems, including defining modules, components, and interfaces for complex systems.
• Scalability and Performance: Design and implement solutions that are scalable and perform well, even with high traffic, large datasets, or complex workloads.
• Integration: Work on integrating different systems or third-party APIs into the application, ensuring smooth data flow and functionality across systems.

3. Technical Leadership and Mentorship

• Mentorship: Mentor and guide junior developers and software engineers, providing support, code reviews, and advice on best practices.
• Collaborating with Teams: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as frontend developers, product managers, designers, and operations teams, to ensure that software meets user needs and is built efficiently.
• Problem Solving: Lead efforts in solving complex technical problems and provide guidance on how to approach challenging coding tasks.

4. Project Management and Delivery

• Agile Development: Participate in Agile methodologies, including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives. Work closely with the product team to ensure requirements are well-understood and features are delivered on time.
• Project Ownership: Take ownership of projects from inception to completion, ensuring that milestones are met, and projects are delivered according to specifications.
• Time and Resource Management: Estimate time and resources required for development tasks, manage priorities, and ensure projects stay on track.

5. Continuous Improvement and Innovation

• Exploring New Technologies: Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in the software development field, particularly related to Python and associated libraries and frameworks.
• Process Improvement: Continuously seek ways to improve development processes, including software quality, efficiency, and collaboration. Advocate for the adoption of new tools and frameworks that enhance productivity.

6. Collaboration with Other Teams

• Product and Business Requirements: Work closely with product managers, designers, and stakeholders to understand the product vision and business needs, ensuring that technical solutions align with company goals.
• DevOps and Infrastructure: Collaborate with DevOps engineers to deploy applications and ensure the smooth operation of software in production environments.
• Cross-Functional Communication: Engage with teams across the company (e.g., marketing, sales, support) to ensure that the software addresses all stakeholder needs.