Senior Backend Team Lead f/m/x (Python/IoT/Cloud)

This job posting is not for madewithlove but for one of our clients whom we consciously chose to work with:

Sailsense Analytics is building the leading IoT and data intelligence platform for the maritime industry. Their mission is to give sailors, fleet operators, and boat builders real-time insights into the state of their boats — from navigation to energy systems, engines, sensors, alerts, maintenance, and much more.

Their ecosystem includes:

⚓️ The Sailsense Hub

An onboard IoT gateway collecting telemetry (NMEA2000, CAN, Zigbee, GPS, engine data...) and sending it securely to the cloud.

⚡️ Powerail

A next-generation digital switching module replacing traditional breakers, enabling remote control, energy monitoring, and automation.

📱 Sailsense Cloud Platform

A modern web and mobile suite used by thousands of boat owners, rental fleets, technicians, and shipyards to:

• monitor boats in real time

• receive alerts

• analyse navigation & telemetry

• manage maintenance

• track tasks & tickets

• integrate OEM systems (Volvo Penta, Mastervolt...)

They combine embedded hardware, real-time telemetry, high-availability cloud systems, machine learning, and delightful UI/UX into one coherent platform. Sailsense is scaling quickly, and they are expanding the engineering team with a Senior Backend Team Lead (f/m/x) who will take ownership of backend architecture, data pipelines, infrastructure reliability, and high-impact technical decisions.

About the role

We are looking for a hands-on Senior Backend Engineer who also acts as Team Lead and Technical Owner. This is not a CTO role, but you will be the senior technical reference for the backend team and a key contributor to system design, architecture, and reliability.

You will:

• Make architectural choices

• Lead major migrations

• Review designs & propose improvements

• Build core backend features

• Work with firmware, mobile, and product teams

• Mentor developers

• Drive engineering excellence

This role is perfect for someone who enjoys both deep technical work (70–80%) and technical leadership (20–30%), and who wants to influence architecture without carrying C-level responsibilities.

What you will own

1. Backend Architecture & Core Development

You will be responsible for the architecture, quality, and scalability of our backend, built primarily in Python.

• Architect & implement backend services (Python, Django, FastAPI)

• Lead design discussions & own technical decisions for backend modules

• Improve performance, reliability, scalability, and maintainability

• Ensure high code quality through reviews, mentoring, and best practices

• Write production-grade code — you remain highly hands-on

  2. Real-Time IoT & Data Pipelines

You will shape the backbone of our real-time telemetry ingestion & processing.

• Improve MQTT ingestion pipelines from the Sailsense Hub

• Optimise streaming flows for tens of thousands of datapoints per minute

• Work with structured & unstructured telemetry (GPS, engines, sensors, alerts)

• Collaborate with firmware engineers on protocols (NMEA2000, CAN, Zigbee)

• Troubleshoot end-to-end IoT flows from edge to cloud
  

  3. Infrastructure, DevOps, and Observability

You’ll help maintain and evolve a modern, reliable infrastructure.

• Improve CI/CD pipelines

• Optimise cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP)

• Enhance observability: logs, metrics, tracing, alerting

• Strengthen platform security & reliability

• Drive cost efficiency and resource optimisation
  
  4. System Design & Technical Decision Making

You will be the go-to person for backend design choices.

• Lead architectural proposals and RFC reviews

• Oversee migrations (database schemas, services, data formats)

• Improve resilience and fault-tolerance

• Ensure API consistency, versioning, and stability

• Collaborate closely with product on feasibility & technical scoping
  
  5. Technical Leadership (No HR management)

You will guide the team through your technical expertise.

• Mentor senior and mid-level developers

• Lead code reviews & share best practices

• Support requirements refinement with the product team

• Drive engineering standards across backend & platform

• Help the team make better architectural decisions

You do not manage HR processes, salaries, or company-wide strategy — this is a technical leadership role.