Backend Engineer

About the Role Unico Connect is an AI-first technology partner that builds custom mobile, web, and AI products for clients across multiple geographies. We are hiring a Backend Engineer to build production-grade backend services across our engagements, partnering closely with senior backend engineers, frontend engineers, AI engineers, and DevOps. The work ranges from AI-heavy product platforms to broader web platforms. We are open to full stack engineers whose primary strength and interest is backend. If your strongest work is on the backend, full stack experience is welcome. The mandatory requirement for this role is hands-on production experience shipping Node.js services, with ownership of at least one feature area end to end including API design, data modelling, and testing. The role is hands-on. Expect to implement APIs, design schemas, work with queues and caches, integrate with AI services, write tests, and review the work of others. A typical week includes a feature implementation, a database migration review, a working session with a frontend engineer on an API contract, and a code review with peers.

Responsibilities

• API and service development: Build REST and GraphQL APIs in Node.js (Express, NestJS, Fastify) with TypeScript. Cover authentication, validation, error handling, and structured logging.
• Database design and queries: Design PostgreSQL schemas, write efficient queries, and own migrations for the feature areas you ship.
• Caching and background work: Implement caching with Redis and background workers using BullMQ, RabbitMQ, or SQS for asynchronous workflows.
• AI service integration: Integrate backend services with internal and third-party AI APIs. Handle streaming responses, retries, structured outputs, and failure modes.
• Testing: Write unit, integration, and contract tests. Build the discipline of automated testing into every feature.
• Observability and security basics: Instrument services with structured logging, metrics, and tracing. Apply secure-by-default practices: input validation, authorisation, secret handling, and dependency hygiene.
• AI-assisted development: Use Claude, Cursor, and similar tools day to day. Build discipline for reviewing and validating AI-generated code.

Requirements

• Hands-on production Node.js experience (mandatory). Must have personally shipped at least one feature area end to end in a production Node.js service, owning API design, data modelling, and testing. Full stack engineers whose deepest work is on the backend qualify. POCs and internal tools alone do not qualify.
• 3+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Strong Node.js and TypeScript. Production work with Express, NestJS, or Fastify. Comfort with async patterns and error handling.
• Python as a plus. Hands-on experience with FastAPI, Django, or Flask is a meaningful advantage. Willingness to pick up Python as engagements demand is required.
• PostgreSQL. Schema design, indexing, query optimisation, and migrations on at least one production system.
• Redis and queues. Hands-on with Redis for caching and at least one queue system (BullMQ, RabbitMQ, SQS).
• AWS familiarity. Working knowledge of EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS. Comfort with Docker and basic deployment workflows.
• Testing fluency. Unit, integration, and at least one of contract or end-to-end testing.
• Strong written and spoken English communication.