Senior Backend Engineer - Fixed Term

Senior Backend Engineer  

We are an integrated design + technology studio.

We’re united by our love of technology and its potential for making lives better. Some of us are big picture thinkers, some of us creatively driven. And some of us love nothing more than deep diving into a thorny technical challenge. But we’re all human, inspired by human stories and driven by a desire to create human-centred experiences.

Love making things for people to enjoy? Join the team designing the technology that matters.

About the Role

You’ll join RUSH as a Senior Backend Engineer on a 6-month fixed term contract dedicated to one of our major enterprise clients. You’ll work deeply within their ecosystem, owning backend services end-to-end, from design and development through to deployment, monitoring, and ongoing improvement. 

Key Responsibilities

• Infrastructure Modernization (Brownfield):
  
  
  
  • Maintain and enhance the existing PHP-based Silverstripe CMS (hybrid setup).
  
  
  • Implement headless capabilities for the current CMS to enable dynamic, omnichannel content delivery via API.
  
  
  • Optimise backend performance to meet sub-second page load targets.
  
  
  • Integrate the web experience with enterprise APIs (Rates, Affordability, Sales) and real-time decisioning engines (e.g., Pega CDH).
  
  
  
  


• AI-Enabled Content Authoring Platform (Greenfield):
  
  
  
  • Develop a standalone AI-assisted search and chat hybrid service.
  
  
  • Architect and implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) using Graph databases (e.g., Neo4j) to improve contextual information retrieval.
  
  
  • Build tools for automated content surfacing, simplified language generation, and dynamic content adaptation.
  
  
  • Implement AI monitoring and evaluation frameworks (e.g., Braintrust) to ensure content meets brand standards and regulatory compliance.
  
  
  
  


• Use BitBucket, GitHub and Jenkins for CI/CD


• Ensure code quality and security through SonarQube and Snyk


• Collaborate closely with the client’s engineering and architecture teams


• Provide technical guidance and support to other developers

Tech Stack

• Languages & Frameworks: PHP (Silverstripe), JavaScript/TypeScript (React, Node.js).


• AI & Data: LLMs, Graph Databases (e.g. Neo4j, Amazon Neptune), Vector Databases (e.g. Pinecone).


• Cloud Infrastructure: AWS, Bonus: Microsoft Azure, Pega Cloud.


• Integrations: Google Analytics 360, Salesforce


• Monitoring & Performance: Dynatrace, Splunk.

About You

• Engineering Expertise: You have extensive backend experience with Node.js and PHP. You are comfortable navigating brownfield environments to modernise legacy code while simultaneously building scalable greenfield services.


• Enterprise Experience: You are adept at working within complex enterprise landscapes, managing high-stakes integrations with multiple internal systems and third-party platforms.


• Architecture & Design: You have a deep understanding of cloud hosting, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines. You are an expert in RESTful API design.


• Reliability & Security: You write clean, testable, and maintainable code. You prioritize security and reliability, which is critical for operating in a highly regulated financial sector.


• Collaboration: You are a strong communicator who enjoys collaborating with cross-functional teams (including AI researchers, frontend engineers, and product specialists) to solve complex business problems.

Bonus points if you have experience with:

• Performance Tuning: Optimizing systems to meet sub-second page load targets.


• AI/Data: Hands-on work with RAG patterns, Graph databases (e.g., Neo4j), or AI observability tools like Braintrust.


• Event-Driven Systems: Designing for real-time updates and asynchronous data flows.


• Observability: Using tools like Dynatrace or Splunk to monitor and maintain system health.

About Us:

At RUSH, we believe in building a culture of excitement, collaboration, and growth. We design and build technology with a focus on making a positive impact on people's lives. We’re a diverse team of big-picture thinkers, creative minds, and technical problem solvers, all united by our passion for creating human-centred experiences.

• We value putting people first and believe in uplifting and understanding our clients and team members.


• We push the boundaries and challenge the status quo to bring innovation and excellence to our projects.


• Our solutions are built for the long haul, and we prioritise sustainability over quick fixes.


• Clear communication is essential to us - life's too short for miscommunication.


• We live for the RUSH of doing and discovering, finding excitement in every project we take on.

Joining RUSH means being part of an awesome office culture if you're ready to take charge, embrace challenges, and drive meaningful projects that make a difference, we'd love to hear from you!