Senior Backend Engineer - Abu Dhabi

Overview

Role Overview

• We are looking for a **Senior Backend Engineer** to design, build, and operate the backend platform that powers advanced AI and data products.
• You will own core services, APIs, event pipelines, and data infrastructure that support production systems at scale.
• This role is backend-focused and requires deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes, and database reliability.
• While you do not need to be an AI specialist, you should be comfortable building the platform foundations that modern AI applications depend on.
• At the senior level, you will:
• Architect and own major backend subsystems end-to-end
• Lead reliability and operational excellence initiatives
• Mentor other engineers and contribute to technical standards
• Collaborate with senior technical leadership to shape platform direction
• Use AI coding tools such as Codex, Claude Code, or similar in your daily workflow

Key Responsibilities

• Backend Services & Event-Driven Architecture* Design, build, and operate scalable backend services and APIs
• Develop event-driven systems using Kafka, Azure Service Bus, or Azure Event Hubs
• Build data pipelines, ETL processes, and shared platform abstractions
• Manage PostgreSQL, caching, and object storage infrastructure
• Cloud Infrastructure & Reliability* Deploy and operate containerized services on Kubernetes
• Build CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code using Terraform
• Manage cloud infrastructure on Azure
• Define and monitor SLOs, metrics, logging, tracing, and alerting
• Lead incident response, root-cause analysis, and postmortems
• Security, Standards & Mentorship* Implement secure engineering practices and compliance requirements
• Contribute to IAM, secrets management, network policy, and zero-trust architecture
• Mentor engineers through design reviews and code reviews
• Basic Qualifications* 7+ years of backend or platform engineering experience
• Strong expertise in distributed systems and event-driven architecture
• Proficiency in Python, Java/Kotlin, or Go
• Hands-on experience with Azure (AWS or GCP experience also valued)
• Production experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL at scale
• Experience with observability, SLOs, and incident response
• Practical use of AI coding assistants such as Codex or Claude Code
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building internal developer platforms and shared tooling
• Service mesh experience (Istio, Linkerd)
• Familiarity with CQRS, event sourcing, sagas, and outbox patterns
• Experience with Redis, Elasticsearch, or OpenSearch
• Exposure to AI infrastructure such as retrieval pipelines and model serving
• Security experience in regulated environments
• Experience working in government, defense, financial services, or similar sectors

Technology Stack* **Languages:** Python, Java, Kotlin, Go

• **APIs:** REST, gRPC, WebSockets, SSE
• **Event Streaming:** Kafka, Azure Service Bus, Azure Event Hubs
• **Data:** PostgreSQL, Redis, DocumentDB, Azure Blob Storage
• **Infrastructure:** Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform
• **Observability:** Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry
• **Security:** Entra ID, RBAC, Secrets Management, Zero Trust
• **AI Development:** Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode

What We’re Looking For

• You are an engineer who:
• Takes full ownership from design to production operations
• Builds reliable, scalable systems with strong operational discipline
• Makes evidence-based technical decisions
• Mentors others and raises the engineering bar
• Communicates clearly and proactively
• Embraces AI-native engineering practices
• Why Apply?
• This role offers the opportunity to work on highly consequential systems that will shape the future of AI-powered public services.
• You’ll join a world-class engineering environment tackling complex challenges in backend infrastructure, distributed systems, and cloud architecture—while delivering meaningful impact at a national scale.