Backend Engineer

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can eventually be refuelled in orbit and that can carry cargo - and potentially humans in the longer run. Join us as a Backend Engineer, where you will contribute to developing a robust and scalable internal platform. You will primarily work on our data management platform for our engineering teams. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES In your capacity as a Backend Engineer – Data Management Platform you will: - Maintain and evolve a production FastAPI backend serving REST APIs for authentication, authorization, file processing, search, and AI-assisted workflows - Contribute to our real-time collaborative editing service built on Hocuspocus, Y.js, and Node.js - Design and ship database migrations using SQLAlchemy and Alembic against production MySQL databases - Build and improve AI-assisted features using LangChain and our document embedding pipelines - Ensure reliability through automated testing with pytest and operational validation - Collaborate with frontend engineers and operations teams to understand and meet their needs WHAT WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE FROM YOU The ideal candidate will have: - Proficiency in Python and experience building REST APIs with FastAPI or a comparable framework - Familiarity with relational databases (MySQL or PostgreSQL) and ORMs such as SQLAlchemy - Familiarity with caching and pub/sub systems (Redis) - Comfort reading and writing Node.js/JavaScript for backend services - Experience with AWS services (S3, IAM) and containerised deployments with Docker - Experience with version control systems such as Git - Familiarity with automated testing frameworks (pytest or equivalent) - Understanding of software design patterns and engineering best practices - Experience working in agile software development environments - Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail with the ability to balance quality and delivery speed - Motivation to thrive in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment - Strong communication skills: able to express ideas clearly, precisely, and proactively BONUS QUALIFICATIONS - Experience with real-time collaboration protocols (WebSockets, CRDTs, Y.js, Hocuspocus) - Familiarity with search platforms such as OpenSearch or Elasticsearch - Experience with authorization frameworks (Cerbos, OPA, or similar) - Exposure to LangChain or other LLM orchestration libraries - Familiarity with observability tooling (Prometheus, Sentry) - Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and GitHub Actions - Experience in the space industry or other safety-critical domains Why you should join us! What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is: - We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind - We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them - We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge? We'd love to hear from you if you wish to be a part of our journey. Please submit your CV now for immediate consideration and we will be in touch shortly. The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, which will be subject to the country, role, and project you applied for. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and agree that any offer of employment may be conditional upon successful condition of this check. The Exploration Company partners with Zinc Work Limited located in the UK (Zinc), a t