Backend Engineer
## About Us
Smirnov Labs is a fast-growing engineering company founded by an ex-Googler. We help product teams launch and scale quickly by leveraging modern technology and AI-assisted development.
Our projects are diverse — we partner with clients at the earliest stages and own the technical delivery end-to-end.
We're a small, senior-heavy team where every engineer has real impact. No bureaucracy, no hand-holding — just sharp people shipping fast.
This is an outstaff role: you'll be embedded directly with a client's engineering team as part of our delivery group, building AI-powered products in a modern, security-conscious, SOC 2-aligned environment.
## What You'll Do
- Own backend features end-to-end across the full software development lifecycle: solution design, development, testing, deployment, troubleshooting, documentation, and production support.
- Design, build, and maintain maintainable Python/Django applications and APIs.
- Build automation scripts and data-processing utilities; integrate with databases, cloud services, and third-party APIs.
- Design and optimize PostgreSQL schemas, queries, functions, and migrations — and troubleshoot performance issues.
- Integrate and support LLM platforms (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, xAI Grok) — designing prompts, system instructions, tool integrations, retrieval-augmented generation workflows, and structured outputs.
- Evaluate models for accuracy, reliability, latency, cost, privacy, and security, and implement safeguards for sensitive data, prompt injection, and hallucinations.
- Use Claude Code to analyze repositories, generate and refactor code, troubleshoot, and improve documentation — and review AI-generated code for accuracy, security, and maintainability.
- Manage code in GitHub — pull requests, code reviews, releases, and GitHub Actions CI/CD.
- Work in a security-conscious environment aligned with SOC 2 controls.
- Communicate directly with the client's engineering, infrastructure, and cybersecurity teams, business stakeholders, and third-party vendors — no layers in between.
- Use AI-assisted development tools (Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) as part of your daily workflow.
## What We're Looking For
- 5+ years of professional Python development, with strong hands-on Django experience
- Strong REST API design (Django REST Framework or similar)
- Strong PostgreSQL skills — schema design, query optimization, and migrations
- Solid grasp of virtual environments, dependency management, testing frameworks, and logging
- Hands-on LLM integration experience (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, or Grok) — prompting, RAG, and structured outputs — a strong plus
- Experience with AI-assisted development (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot)
- Comfortable with GitHub / GitHub Actions and working on Linux
- Comfortable working in a codebase under active rewrite, with strong code review and automated review gates
- Comfort working in the US timezone (overlapping working hours required)
- Upper-Intermediate or higher English
- Ability to own and drive features independently with minimal supervision
## What We Offer
- Competitive salary above market average
- Fully remote work
- Flat structure — work directly with the client's engineering team, no middle management
- Diverse and technically challenging projects
- Modern AI-powered development workflow
- Small team culture — your voice matters, your code ships
- Paid vacation and sick leave
- Flexible schedule within the US timezone overlap
- Professional and career growth through real ownership, not courses and certificates
## How to Apply
Send your CV with a brief note about a Python/Django project you're most proud of.