Python Backend Engineer at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

We are looking for a backend developer with specific experience in Python, SQL and gRPC to support the design & development of a suite of financial, statistical, analytics and operational services.

Our team leads the architecture & development of this environment with a primary goal of enabling business to deliver enriched traditional services at scale to high profile clients; and to deliver a new variety of services by leveraging a suite of modern technologies.

While this role is focused on backend Python, SQL and gRPC development, as a key member of a small developer team you will have the opportunity to contribute to & learn the full stack architecture and implementation of an end-to-end micro-services application hosted in a modern kubernetes cluster. This includes design, frontend development, gRPC API design & integration, backend development, database design, modern kubernetes automated cloud deployment, corporate-level security patterns & testing, formalised Git review & release cycles.

The role:

• Join a small team of developers that is building web applications for a larger business cluster delivering analytics and modelling services to clients.
• Full time and part-time (2-3 days per week) options available. Contractors welcome.
• Focus on backend development with Python, SQL, SQLAlchemy, Pandas and gRPC.
• Frequently collaborate with the broader team & business to discuss ideas and progress. Provide active guidance in meetings with the team & business regarding best practices, alternative options, required effort and possibilities / limitations.
• Apply fundamental computer science concepts such as abstraction, composition and dependency injection to produce well-architectured and robust software components which can be repeatedly used and distributed throughout the application with minimal effort.
• If interested / experienced - contribute to & learn the full stack architecture and implementation of an end-to-end application.

Required experience:

• At least 5 years of experience with Python 3+ development of web applications or integrated services; preferably includes SQLAlchemy, pandas, pytest and gRPC.
• Thorough understanding of principled test-driven development.
• Working knowledge & experience with git collaborative workflows & pull requests
• gRPC and protocol buffers OR a strong background with REST APIs and an interest in learning and applying gRPC
• Ability to apply fundamental computer science topics such as abstraction, composition and dependency injection to produce well-architectured and robust software solutions.

Our core software principles:

• Distributed Development & Microservices - As a core team enabling solutions to be developed across the business, we must provide clear development and orchestration boundaries and relieve the burden of dependency resolution on specific app teams.
• Test Driven Development - We believe that architecting a solution through the lens of a robust test suite creates focus and purpose in the code we create. It is the primary enabler of continuous delivery.
• Strict Typing - Simple: types enable you to catch bugs faster, greatly improves IDE assistance and enables predictable outcomes when using code produced by others.
• Continuous integration - Code that sits on a developer’s machine goes stale fast. Short PRs and software switches enable the team to stay current with one “interesting” version of the code.

Our current stack:

• Python 3.8+
• gRPC APIs
• PostgreSQL
• Typescript
• Angular 9+
• Redux (Angular Ngrx)
• Kubernetes
• Docker
• Istio Service Mesh
• Open Policy Agent
• Azure DevOps repos / pipelines
• Azure Container Registry
• Azure Cloud (storage, database, virtual machine, kubernetes, key vault, etc)

The tools we use:

• PyCharm Professional
• VSCode
• Slack
• Google Enterprise (Gmail, Meet, Chat, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, etc)
• Microsoft 365