Hybrid Backend Engineer – Databases, APIs

at M&C Saatchi Group

• Job title: Backend Engineer – Databases, APIs
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: AWS, ETL, MongoDB, Postgres, Python, Redis, SQL
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• Backend Engineer leading API and database development for M+C Saatchi World Services. Responsible for scalable data ingestion, consistent modelling, and fast API access.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement database schemas optimised for time-series, geospatial, multimedia, and relational data.
• Build robust data-integration pipelines that ingest from multiple third-party APIs, handling inconsistencies, failures, and schema changes.
• Develop and optimise API endpoints using Python and FastAPI to serve data efficiently and reliably at scale.
• Implement caching strategies, materialised views, and denormalisation patterns to maintain responsive query performance.
• Design coherent data models that reconcile disparate data sources into a unified internal schema.
• Manage core database operations including migrations, indexing strategies, query optimisation, and performance monitoring.
• Build resilient ETL processes with strong error handling, retry logic, and validation mechanisms.
• Deploy and maintain data infrastructure on AWS, including RDS, Redis, S3, and MongoDB where required.

Requirements

• 3–5 years’ experience in backend development with a strong focus on databases.
• Deep expertise in PostgreSQL, including schema design, indexing, query optimisation, and stored procedures.
• Strong proficiency in Python, with hands-on experience using FastAPI or similar frameworks.
• Experience designing data models for complex, multi-source systems.
• Hands-on experience building large-scale integrations with third-party APIs.
• Solid understanding of data consistency, transactions, and failure-handling patterns.
• Experience with AWS data services (RDS, S3, MongoDB, Redis).
• Strong SQL skills and the ability to write efficient queries on large datasets.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot).

Benefits

• 27 days holiday per year
• Pension contributions
• Private healthcare
• Discounted dental insurance
• Enhanced maternity/parental leave
• Cultural stimulation allowance - £250 per person per year
• Half days off before bank holidays
• Emergency care days for dependants
• Up to 5 days volunteering leave per year to work for a registered charity
• Up to 10 days special emergency leave per year
• Season Ticket loan
• Payroll Giving Scheme
• Thursday drinks to unwind and socialize
• An annual Summer and Christmas party
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion with inclusive bank holidays
• Learning opportunities around D&I, targeted mentoring programmes and participation in active Employee Led Networks and associated events.