Senior Backend Engineer - Returns Portal

At parcelLab, we’re reshaping how the world’s leading brands manage the post-purchase experience.

Our post-purchase platform helps companies like John Lewis, Chico's, Yeti, AllSaints, and others transform every touchpoint into moments that drive customer engagement, build loyalty, and create customers for life.

We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer — a product‑focused builder with strong agency — to help evolve our Returns Portal , a white‑label SaaS used by customers in 175+ countries . You’ll work on a large‑scale Django application with a modern Python toolchain (uv/mypy/Ruff/Pydantic) and a server‑driven UI stack (HTMX/Alpine).

The role:

You will design and evolve the backend systems behind our returns experiences—owning problems end‑to‑end: clarify outcomes, collaborate with Product and Design, and ship reliable, observable services that make returns fast, clear, and correct.

What you’ll do:

• Lead services & workflows from concept to impact : model data, implement APIs and jobs, instrument, launch, and iterate.

• Design and evolve domain models & rules for returns (RMAs, eligibility, routing, bundles) with safe migrations and clear boundaries.

• Build and maintain APIs (REST/GraphQL) and endpoints that power our server‑driven UI ( HTMX/Alpine ).

• Integrate with commerce systems (e.g., Shopify ) and order/warehouse tools: design and operate API/webhook integrations, keep orders and RMAs in sync, and ensure idempotent, reliable synchronization and backfills.

• Raise the bar on engineering practices : typing ( mypy ), validation ( Pydantic ), code quality ( Ruff ), CI/CD, and thoughtful reviews.

• Own quality in production : monitor performance and error rates; fix what you ship.

What we’re looking for:

• Proficiency with Python in production, ideally (nice to have) with Django.

• Strong SQL fundamentals, relational modeling, and safe migrations.

• Experience building APIs (REST) and working with job queues .

• Comfort with modern Python tooling: uv , mypy , Ruff , Pydantic .

• Testing mindset (unit/integration) and continuous delivery know‑how.

• Evidence of agency : stories where you drove an outcome end‑to‑end.

Bonus Points:

• Experience with server‑driven UIs (Django templates + HTMX/Alpine ).

• Tailwind CSS and solid CSS fundamentals (layout, responsive, a11y) for pragmatic UI tweaks in server‑rendered templates.

• Shopify ecosystem exposure (Admin API, webhooks, embedded apps).

• E‑commerce/returns domain familiarity (bundles, routing, warehousing).

• Observability and SLO practice (metrics, tracing, error budgets); performance tuning in Django at scale.

Our stack:

(you don’t need all of this)

Python 3.14, Django, HTMX/Alpine.js (server‑driven UI), mypy, Ruff, Pydantic, uv; PostgreSQL (relational), Redis, a job queue (Celery), REST API / GraphQL, AWS, Terraform, GitHub Actions, feature flags, Sentry/Datadog observability.

Why join parcelLab:

• You’ll join a passionate and collaborative global team with plenty of room to grow

• Competitive salary + benefits

• A culture that values creativity, experimentation, and ownership

Perks & Benefits:

🧠 Plenty of room for your own ideas...space to try, fail and learn!

🛳 Comprehensive 30-60-90 day onboarding plan in place from the very first day to help you integrate seamlessly with the rest of the company and understand new responsibilities

🏝 Equipped with the latest MacBook or PC, as a digital-first company, you choose whether to work entirely from home, in one of our offices or a mix that suits you. Not close to one of our offices No problem! Find yourself a co-working space instead, and we’ll help cover the costs

🚀 Career development opportunities, including our Leadership Development Program and our Mentorship Program, as well as online language courses, available budgets for further training

🧘🏽‍♀️ Stay grounded with our free meditation, mindfulness and coaching sessions via our mental wellbeing platform TELUS.health

🎉 Regular company retreats, parcelLab events (in-person and online), local and regional meet-ups, as well as team off-sites

🌏 Be part of a motivated, diverse and international team made up of over 25 different nationalities; and with a great rating for company culture and employee experience on Glassdoor, you’ll love working here!

About parcelLab:

parcelLab’s platform unifies every touchpoint from customer conversion, order tracking, delivery, returns, and engagement into one seamless ecosystem that not only reduces friction but actively drives repeat purchases, transforming post-purchase into a competitive advantage.

It’s all in a day’s work for us:

• Monitor over six million shipments per day

• 175+ countries across the globe use our tracking pages

• 1000+ brands use parcelLab for their post-purchase experience

• Shipping data comes from more than 350+ carriers worldwide, including DHL, FedEx & DPD

• 150+ employees around the globe, driving innovation together

Equal Opportunities:

parcelLab is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We live the motto always joy, always team, always equality, which means we celebrate diversity and do not accept any form of discrimination or harassment. We believe that diversity enriches our employee experience and allows each of us to deliver the best work possible.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, disability status or other lived experience.

Come be part of our growth – contribute your ideas and share in our success as we continue to improve the post-sales customer journey for millions of people every day.