Backend / Systems Engineer

Government-backed Abu Dhabi organization focused on advanced technology R&D (est. 2020), defining strategy, funding, and policies across AI, robotics, and emerging technologies. Oversees the full innovation lifecycle - from research and programs to commercialization - through dedicated applied research, innovation, and venture entities.

The first production system is an AI-enabled operational platform that gives a senior leadership team a shared situational picture, an AI-classified signal feed, a daily AI-generated briefing, and an action accountability tracker. MVP target: operational within two weeks of team formation. The platform is also the technical foundation for all subsequent Data & AI systems across the organization.

MISSION OF THE ROLE

Build and own the backend API and system integration layer for the DAIO's (Data & AI Office) production systems. In the near term: the FastAPI service that powers all dashboard panels, the briefing approval workflow, action tracking, posture management, and Azure AD authentication. In Phase 2: the integration contracts for communications dispatch, treasury data upload, ERP API access, and sovereign compute migration. Two engineers are required — one Lead owning the API architecture and state machine design, one Senior owning integrations and the test coverage. A weak backend breaks everything above it.

WHAT THIS ROLE BUILDS & OWNS

• FastAPI backend — all REST endpoints for signal retrieval, posture read/write, briefing draft/approve/distribute workflow, action CRUD

• Authentication and authorization layer — Azure AD SSO, MFA enforcement, role-based access control (read-only, admin, executive views)

• Briefing approval workflow — state machine: draft pending approval approved distributed, with immutable audit log

• Session management via Azure Redis Cache

• Communications integration — WhatsApp Business API (via Twilio) dispatch, SMS fallback, email

fallback

• PDF export endpoint for approved briefings

• Phase 2: ERP API integration contracts, CSV upload endpoint, multi-channel communications dispatch state machine

KEY DECISIONS THIS ROLE OWNS

• API contract — endpoint naming, request/response schema, HTTP status codes, error format

• Authentication flow — token refresh, session expiry, MFA enforcement points

• Briefing workflow state machine — what transitions are permitted, what is logged, what is irreversible

• Rate limiting and throttling on write-heavy endpoints

• Idempotency design for action updates — prevent double-submission from slow mobile connections

WHAT THIS ROLE DOES NOT DO

• Build or manage the data ingestion pipeline — that is the Senior Data Platform Engineers

• Write AI prompts or call the LLM API directly — that is the AI Engineer

• Build frontend components — that is the Full Stack Engineers

• Define the database schema — that is the Head of Data Architecture; the Backend Engineer implements it

PROFILE OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

Has built a multi-role, authenticated REST API that ran in production and was consumed by a frontend engineer who had to understand it the next morning without explanation. Writes APIs that are self-documenting: clear naming, consistent error codes, auto-generated OpenAPI spec. Defensive about state: no unlogged transitions, no silent failures, no ambiguous 200 responses. Fast — can scaffold a working FastAPI service with auth, DB, and Redis in a day

• FastAPI — async handlers, dependency injection, Pydantic models

• Python 3.10+ — type hints, async/await, exception handling

• PostgreSQL — ORM (SQLAlchemy), raw query optimization, transaction management

• Azure AD — OAuth 2.0, JWT validation, MSAL, role-based access control

• Redis — session store, distributed lock patterns

• REST API design — versioning, error standardization, OpenAPI spec generation

• Twilio API — WhatsApp Business, SMS fallback

• Docker + Azure App Service deployment

• GitHub Actions CI/CD — automated test and deploy pipeline pytest — unit and integration test coverage

Benefits:

• Paid Vacation
• Hybrid Work (home/office)
• Sick Days
• Sport/Insurance Compensation
• Holidays Day Off
• English Classes
• Training Compensation
• Transportation compensation