The Sr. Backend Engineer will design and maintain backend systems using Django, optimize PostgreSQL databases, implement secure workflows, and mentor other engineers while collaborating across teams.
Sr. Backend Engineer, Django
About TaxGPT
About the Role
What You’ll Do
What We’re Looking For
What We Offer
Hiring Process
Location: Remote, US
Compensation: $140-160k + Equity + Variable Comp up to 20% of base salary
About TaxGPT
TaxGPT is revolutionizing the tax and accounting space with AI-driven solutions tailored for accountants, tax professionals, and SMBs. We’re building an AI copilot to transform tax workflows, drive efficiency, and simplify compliance. Recently named one of Business Insider’s 30 Early-Stage Startups Most Likely to Become Tech’s Next Unicorns, we’d love for you to join our growing team.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer with deep Django expertise to help build and scale the core application layer at TaxGPT. This is a hands-on role for someone who has strong judgment in designing backend systems, writing clean and maintainable Django code, modeling complex business logic, and improving performance, reliability, and security in production systems.
You’ll work closely with product, design, and leadership to ship backend features that power critical workflows for tax professionals. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, owning projects end-to-end, and helping shape backend engineering standards as the company scales.
What You’ll Do
- Design, build, and maintain core backend systems using Python, Django, and Django REST Framework
- Own application architecture for backend features, including domain modeling, business logic, API design, and integrations
- Build reliable, secure, and well-documented APIs used by our frontend and internal services
- Write efficient, scalable database queries in PostgreSQL, and improve performance through indexing, query tuning, caching, and thoughtful schema design
- Manage database migrations and evolving data models safely in production
- Build and maintain asynchronous and background job workflows for longer-running tasks and system processes
- Improve system reliability, observability, and operational readiness in collaboration with the broader engineering team
- Implement secure authentication, authorization, and data protection patterns appropriate for sensitive financial workflows
- Review code, mentor other engineers, and raise the standard for backend quality, testing, and maintainability
- Partner closely with product, frontend, and leadership to translate ambiguous requirements into clean technical solutions
- Contribute to architectural decisions and help the team balance speed, simplicity, and long-term scalability
What We’re Looking For
- 7+ years of backend engineering experience, with significant production experience in Python and Django
- Deep understanding of Django architecture, including models, views, serializers, middleware, auth, admin, signals, migrations, and application structure
- Strong experience with Django REST Framework
- Strong experience with PostgreSQL, including schema design, query optimization, indexing, and migration strategy
- Experience building and scaling production backend services and complex business logic in growing product environments
- Strong understanding of testing and reliability practices, including unit, integration, and API-level testing
- Experience with asynchronous systems and background job processing, plus strong backend security fundamentals
- Clear communicator who collaborates well across teams and operates effectively in a fast moving startup environment
- Experience with AI/LLM-enabled products or backend systems that support AI workflows
- Experience in fintech, tax, accounting, or other regulated domains
- Experience scaling Django applications with caching, background workers, performance monitoring and production deployment environments
- Experience improving developer experience, code quality, and engineering standards across a backend team
What We Offer
Compensation
$140-160k + Equity + Variable Comp up to 20% of base salary
Benefits
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
Remote-first
Work from anywhere across US, Canada or Mexico.
Ownership & Impact
Direct visibility into leadership, product strategy, and company growth initiatives. Your work directly influences revenue.
Professional Development
Access to top-tier sales training, AI tooling, and development resources including a $350 credit, all to sharpen your craft.
Culture
We’re a high-trust, high-output team. Expect fast feedback loops, real ownership, and cross-functional collaboration.
Hiring Process
Intro Call → Technical Assessment → Technical Interview → Final Conversations
Similar Jobs
Automotive • Hardware • Internet of Things • Mobile • Software • App development • PropTech
Architect and build LLM-based, agentic AI systems and production pipelines (RAG, orchestration, memory, tool integration). Lead cross-functional delivery across frontend, backend, and ML, drive tooling/infrastructure choices, mentor engineers, and ensure scalable, observable, production-ready GenAI features.
Top Skills:
AutogenAWSAzureCamelFaissGCPGrpcLangchainLanggraphLlamaindexLlmsMcpMlopsNode.jsPineconePythonRagRasaRestVector DatabasesWeaviate
Cloud • Information Technology • Security • Software • Cybersecurity
Lead product strategy and execution for a principal area of Security AI. Own multi-quarter roadmaps, run enterprise customer discovery, translate insights into requirements and metrics, align Engineering/Design/Security Research/GTM, ship platform and security capabilities, write PRDs and launch narratives, and brief executives and customers.
Top Skills:
A2AAi/MlAPIsData ProtectionIdentity ProtocolsMcpNetwork ProtocolsSaseSecurity ArchitectureTelemetryZero Trust
Aerospace • Hardware • Information Technology • Security • Software • Cybersecurity • Defense
Provide technical oversight and act as COTR for SAR/direction-finding seeker development across LRPF programs. Coordinate supplier SOWs, schedules, requirements, and integration planning; validate RF hardware and seeker software maturation; liaise with government customers and program management; supervise multidisciplinary teams and report technical, cost, and schedule status. Hybrid role with significant on-site presence and up to 50% travel.
Top Skills:
Direction-FindingRadar ModesRfSeeker HardwareSeeker SoftwareSynthetic Aperture Radar (Sar)
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
With vibrant neighborhoods, great food and more affordable housing than either coast, Chicago might be the most liveable major tech hub. It is the birthplace of modern commodities and futures trading, a national hub for logistics and commerce, and home to the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This diverse blend of industry influences has helped Chicago emerge as a major player in verticals like fintech, biotechnology, legal tech, e-commerce and logistics technology. It’s also a major hiring center for tech companies on both coasts.
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
