Senior Software Engineer

Summary

Join YouGov as a Python Engineer for a 12-month contract, focusing on developing and maintaining web applications using Django and Wagtail CMS. You will build scalable backend systems and enhance content management capabilities. The role involves working with relational databases, designing RESTful APIs, and optimizing applications for performance and security. You will collaborate with a team passionate about making people's voices heard through data-driven content. The position requires 5+ years of Python backend development experience and expertise in relevant technologies. You will contribute to impactful projects with high production traffic, leading system design discussions and mentoring other engineers.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience as a Python backend developer
• Expert knowledge of Python and some of the main web frameworks (Django, Flask, FastAPI, CherryPy)
• Proficiency in relational databases (PostgreSQL) and ORM frameworks
• Extensive experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and software development best practices
• Knowledge of Elasticsearch for search indexing
• Proven experience in building and deploying scalable microservices
• Profound knowledge of Docker
• Solid understanding of modern testing principles
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• High focus on quality, operational excellence and customer experience

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and optimize backend applications using Django and FastAPI
• Build and customize Wagtail CMS websites, including custom page models, blocks, and workflows
• Design and implement RESTful APIs and integrate with third-party services
• Work with relational databases (PostgreSQL) for efficient data storage and retrieval
• Optimize applications for performance, security, and scalability
• Lead system design and code architecture discussions
• Work on impactful projects with high volumes of production traffic
• Produce simple, maintainable code while always looking to improve it
• Define testing strategies and write automated tests
• Lead the technical excellence of the system and create plans to mitigate outages
• Pro-actively mentor other engineers
• Foresee the impact of business and technical decisions on performance, reliability and
• Own the entire software lifecycle
• Propose and participate in team processes improvements

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Wagtail CMS, including page models, stream fields, and admin
• Understanding of Celery and task queues for background processing
• Ability to think abstractly and deal well with ambiguous/undefined problems
• Experience participating in mitigating technical debt
• Experience with Kubernetes and AWS technologies
• Proactive in identifying risks and taking an impact-centric approach to problem-solving