Job Title: Backend Developer
Job Summary:
We are looking for a Backend Developer to join our platform team. You will design, build, and maintain the backend microservices that power our real-time operations platform, working across multiple backend services and data pipelines. This is fully onsite in Houston, TX.
This role involves developing Python microservices with FastAPI, managing PostgreSQL and analytics data stores, building distributed task queues, and integrating with cloud infrastructure. You will contribute to services that handle everything from REST APIs, to real-time, to MQTT, to WITSML data exchange and message publishing.
Key Responsibilities:
• Design and implement RESTful API endpoints using FastAPI across multiple backend microservices
• Build and maintain data models with SQLAlchem, write Alembic database migrations, and optimize PostgreSQL queries
• Develop real-time data streaming features using WebSockets and Server-Sent Events (SSE) for live sensor and operational data
• Work with analytics data stores for large-scale data retrieval alongside relational databases for transactional data
• Implement and maintain distributed task processing pipelines using cache and message brokers
• Build and maintain authentication and authorization logic using JWT validation and policy-based access control
• Develop data ingestion and transformation services, including CSV parsing, XML processing, and store-and-forward message patterns
• Write comprehensive tests with pytest, including async test patterns
• Containerize services with Docker, maintain multi-stage build configurations, and support CI/CD pipelines
• Integrate with cloud platform services for storage, logging, messaging, and secrets management
• Participate in code reviews, maintain code quality with Ruff and mypy, and contribute to technical documentation
• Track work, manage sprints, and collaborate with the team using project tracking tools
• Translate business requirements into well-structured user stories that divide work into small, demonstrable increments aligned with sprint goals
• Collaborate with product owners and domain experts to refine acceptance criteria and ensure technical implementations meet operational needs
Required Qualifications:
• 5+ years of professional backend development experience with Python 3.10+
• Strong proficiency with FastAPI or a comparable async Python web framework
• Hands-on experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL preferred), SQL query writing, and ORM tools
• Understanding of RESTful API design, versioning, authentication patterns, and error handling
• Experience with database migration tools (Alembic or similar)
• Familiarity with async/await patterns in Python and async libraries like asyncpg or aiohttp
• Experience writing automated tests with pytest and working knowledge of test fixtures, mocking, and coverage tools
• Comfort with Docker for local development and deployment, including writing Dockerfiles and Docker Compose configurations
• Working knowledge of Git, collaborative development workflows, and CI/CD concepts
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to debug issues across distributed services
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with a major cloud platform (GCP preferred)
• Familiarity with distributed task queues and Redis for caching and message brokering
• Knowledge of real-time communication protocols (WebSockets, Server-Sent Events)
• Experience with policy-based authorization engines
• Exposure to data pipeline patterns including store-and-forward, ETL, and event-driven architectures
• Familiarity with WITSML, WellView or similar industry data exchange standards
• Experience with code quality tooling such as Black, Ruff, or mypy
• Knowledge of OpenTelemetry or similar observability frameworks for logging, tracing, and monitoring
• Background in the energy, industrial, or IoT sectors
Nice to Have:
• Experience in the oil and gas industry, particularly with well completions operations, frac scheduling, or wellbore data workflows
• Familiarity with completions-specific data concepts such as stage tracking, perforation intervals, pump schedules, and treatment designs
• Exposure to upstream oil and gas data standards, field operations terminology, or oilfield service company workflows
• Experience building software for safety-critical or compliance-driven environments common in energy operations