Key Skills

Job Description

Backend Python Engineer (DRWN) Job title - Backend Python Engineer Client Location - Amsterdam, Netherlands Remote work offering - 100% (optional office visits a couple of times a month) Client Industry - Employee Benefits / HR Tech Contract Length - 10 months (extendable) Contract type - Freelance Project focus An established employee benefits platform needs to scale ahead of a large customer migration. Joining a small, independent platform team working in Python and React, you'll identify and fix scaling bottlenecks, introduce async processing where it's missing, and map existing customer configurations to the new system to drive migration automation. You'll also own the backend REST API for a self-service customer portal, integrate with third-party HR systems and extend the existing transactional platform. The work is roughly 90% backend and 10% frontend. Key skills and Experience required 5+ years of commercial Python on large, complex codebases Hands-on REST API development with FastAPI, Django or Flask Strong AWS experience, including Kubernetes (EKS) and PostgreSQL (RDS) Solid relational database skills, including SQL query optimisation Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, CircleCI or GitLab CI) A strong testing habit with pytest or similar Ownership from design through to delivery, including architectural decisions Enough React to pick up light frontend work Fluent English and confidence working directly with non-technical teams such as finance and customer success Based in Europe within CET ±2 hours and available to start by 1 December Desirable: fintech, payments or ledger experience, data migrations, async queues (Celery, SQS, RabbitMQ), third-party HR API integrations, Dutch If this role is of interest, please apply with an updated CV. Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

Core Responsibilities

Identify and resolve scaling bottlenecks, introduce async processing, and automate customer configuration mapping for a large platform migration. Own backend REST APIs for a self-service portal, integrate third-party HR systems, and extend the transactional platform, with occasional light frontend work.

Requirements

Requires 5+ years of commercial Python experience, REST API development, strong AWS, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, relational database, and CI/CD skills, plus a strong testing practice. Candidates should be able to own work from design through delivery, have enough React experience for light frontend tasks, communicate fluently in English, be based in Europe within CET ±2 hours, and be available by December 1.