Senior Backend Engineer

Description:

Our client is a successful tech scale‑up, a cash‑generative SME currently at c.£10m turnover and c.80 staff, looking to double in size in the next five years under the guidance of its experienced, highly charismatic and driven owner, supported by a first‑class senior leadership team including new CEO. We are looking to strengthen the company’s Engineering capability, working closely with a world‑class CTO who heads a high‑performing technology function, by appointing a new Senior Backend Engineer.
As Senior Backend Engineer, based at the company's North East headquarters, you’ll take hands-on technical ownership and leadership of one of our client’s backend platform domains acting as the trusted technical authority, setting direction, defining standards and ensuring quality across Go and TypeScript services on AWS. This position is crucial for driving our engineering excellence and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Your responsibilities as Senior Backend Engineer will include:
* Own technical direction for the backend platform — architecture, coding standards, and how services are designed and evolved
* Build and evolve production-grade services in Go and TypeScript across AWS Lambda, ECS/EKS, and RDS/Aurora
* Make architectural decisions with clear reasoning, balancing delivery pace with long-term maintainability
* Drive quality through code review, testing culture, and engineering practices
* Mentor and coach backend engineers — helping them grow their skills and careers
* Collaborate with Engineering Managers, Product and other platform Leads to align on shared standards
* Manage technical debt strategically and champion continuous improvement
As Senior Backend Engineer you’ll need:
* Strong technical, commercial experience as a Backend Engineer, Senior Backend Engineer or Lead Backend Engineer, ideally gained in a fast‑paced, growing technology‑driven business – leading, setting standards and raising the bar for others
* Experience in an agile, product-led environment is desirable
* Production-grade experience in Go — designed and shipped backend services at scale
* Experience with TypeScript in a backend context (Node.js, shared libraries, or tooling)
* Deep familiarity with core AWS infrastructure — Lambda, ECS/EKS and RDS/Aurora - specialised knowledge in Aurora performance tuning is a significant plus
* Proficiency with AWS messaging services, specifically SQS, SNS and EventBridge
* Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
Rewards and Benefits:
• Basic salary between £65,000 and £80,000 (plus benefits)
• Maximum pay/rewards, dependent on possessing all outlined experience, skills, knowledge and qualifications
• Full‑time, permanent role based in Gateshead
• Hybrid and flexible working available
• Free parking
• On‑site health facilities, staff events and discounts, training and more
Please note: we review applications on receipt and aim to get back to shortlisted candidates within 5 days. You must be eligible to work in the UK.
Senior Backend Engineer, Newcastle upon Tyne