Senior Software Engineer

Oxford Dynamics

. Design, build and evolve backend services for high-availability, high-throughput workloads using Python and FastAPI .

Posted 10/27/2026full-timeOxford • United KingdomSenior💰 £80,000 - £110,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in designing and building high-availability backend services using Python and FastAPI, with a strong focus on API design, database performance tuning, and secure coding practices. Proven ability to mentor engineers and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Python ProgrammingDocker ContainerizationAPI Design and DocumentationRelational Database DesignEvent-Driven Architecture

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Hard Skills

PythonFastAPIDockerPostgreSQLAPI VersioningOAuth2/OIDCCachingRate LimitingAsynchronous ProgrammingEvent-Driven Systems

Soft Skills

Clear CommunicationMentoringProblem SolvingHigh AgencyPragmatic Approach

Tools & Technologies

TerraformCloudFormationGitHub ActionsArgo CDPrometheusGrafanaKubernetesECS

Certifications & Qualifications

UK Security Clearance (BPSS and SC)UK Passport

Industry Keywords

ISO 27001GDPR ComplianceProduction SystemsObservabilityAI/ML Integration

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudDockerGrafanaKubernetesPostgresPrometheusPythonSnowflakeTerraform

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, build and evolve backend services for high-availability, high-throughput workloads using Python and FastAPI
Own the design of well-versioned HTTP APIs with clear contracts, consistency, idempotency, backward compatibility and usable documentation
Design event-driven systems and background processing pipelines using queues, streams and workers
Model data and tune databases through schema design, indexing, query performance, migrations and scaling strategy
Apply caching, rate limiting and queuing to meet performance and latency budgets
Integrate with AI pipelines and model-serving endpoints, including streaming responses and asynchronous inference jobs
Resolve ambiguous technical problems and make sound engineering decisions
Package and ship services as minimal Docker containers with reproducible builds
Write secure, well-tested code across unit, integration and end-to-end tests
Implement OAuth2/OIDC authentication and authorisation, session management and fine-grained permissions
Build observability through structured logging, metrics, tracing and alerting
Support ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance readiness through secure-by-default design
Operate production systems and remain close to production operations
Translate product intent into technical plans, milestones, sequencing, success criteria and estimates
Document technical trade-offs and reasoning
Mentor engineers on system design, API ergonomics and operational thinking
Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders, including customers
Contribute to Terraform/CloudFormation infrastructure as code and GitHub Actions/Argo CD CI/CD
Support cloud operations, cost awareness and promotion across development, staging and production

Requirements

What you’ll need

Must be eligible for UK security clearance (BPSS and SC)
Must hold a UK passport
At least 5 years of continuous UK residency
Strong hands-on experience with Docker and containerised deployment
Strong programming ability in Python, or demonstrable depth in a comparable language with willingness to work primarily in Python
Track record of building and operating production backend systems, setting the design rather than only implementing it
Proven experience designing and operating production APIs, including versioning, security, documentation and automated testing
Solid grounding in relational database design, indexing, performance tuning and migrations (PostgreSQL or equivalent)
Experience with asynchronous or event-driven architectures and associated failure modes
Fluency with Git-based workflows and code review
High agency and end-to-end ownership of outcomes
Pragmatic and research-driven approach with a bias to ship and iterate
Clear written and verbal communication
Comfortable defining SLAs, making trade-offs explicit and operating production systems
Nice to have: experience integrating with AI/ML systems or model-serving infrastructure
Nice to have: exposure to enterprise data platforms such as Palantir Foundry, Databricks or Snowflake
Nice to have: observability tooling such as Prometheus/Grafana or ELK/OpenSearch
Nice to have: container orchestration such as Kubernetes or ECS and infrastructure as code
Nice to have: experience in regulated, safety-critical or security-cleared environments
Nice to have: prior technical lead experience or senior engineer experience on a small team

Benefits

Comp & perks

Rapid career progression and personal growth
Flexible working hours
The opportunity to shape the future of a fast-growing business
Hybrid working model
Company pension (NEST) with 4% employer contribution
Private healthcare
29 days holiday plus public holidays
Inclusive team experience regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability or parental status