Software Engineer Lead (Python / AWS Backend)

Software Engineer Lead (Python / AWS Backend)

Contract‑to‑Hire

Location- Religh,NC

Engagement Type

Contract‑to‑Hire (12 months intended conversion)

Role Overview

Our client is seeking a Software Engineer Lead on a contract‑to‑hire basis to lead backend engineering efforts for cloud‑native services built primarily with Python on AWS. This role is both hands‑on and leadership‑oriented, owning technical direction while actively contributing code.

This is a true lead role, not just a senior individual contributor. The intent is to convert this person to full‑time once they’ve demonstrated technical leadership, delivery consistency, and team fit.

What This Person Will Do

Technical Leadership

• Serve as technical lead for backend service development
• Establish coding standards, architecture patterns, and best practices
• Lead code reviews and mentor engineers across the team

Backend Engineering

• Design and build Python‑based backend services and APIs
• Develop and maintain microservices and event‑driven systems
• Ensure scalability, security, and performance of backend platforms

AWS & Cloud Engineering

• Design and deploy solutions using AWS, including:
• EKS / ECS for containerized services
• Lambda for serverless workloads
• DynamoDB for NoSQL data storage
• Partner with DevOps and Platform teams on cloud architecture and deployment strategies

Reliability & Quality

• Drive testing, monitoring, and observability best practices
• Troubleshoot production issues and participate in root‑cause analysis
• Balance speed of delivery with long‑term maintainability

Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Architecture, and Business stakeholders
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Help prioritize work and technical tradeoffs

Required Experience

• Strong experience with Python backend development
• Proven experience building service‑based or microservice architectures
• Hands‑on experience in AWS environments, specifically:
• EKS, ECS, Lambda
• DynamoDB or similar NoSQL databases
• Prior experience as a Lead Engineer or senior engineer with leadership responsibilities
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes fundamentals)
• Comfortable operating in CI/CD and cloud‑native delivery models

Nice to Have / Plus Skills

(Not required for hire)

• Event‑driven architecture experience
• Infrastructure‑as‑Code exposure (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc.)
• Cloud modernization or legacy service migration experience
• Agentic AI exposure, such as:
• AI‑assisted development tools or coding agents
• Designing or integrating AI agents that orchestrate workflows or tasks
• Using LLMs or AI services as part of backend systems

Why Contract‑to‑Hire

• The client wants to evaluate leadership style and technical impact before conversion
• Strong performance will lead to full‑time conversion within 12 months
• This role is expected to scale into a long‑term technical leadership position