Available across Europe, UK & US — full-time or B2B

Francisco Filipe.

Senior Backend Engineer building distributed systems and high-scale data platforms in Python.

10+ years programming, 5+ years scaling production crawling and data pipelines from 100K to 100M+ requests. I take systems from architecture to production — and keep them running.

10+
Years programming
5+
Years remote backend
100M+
Requests scaled to
1000×
Throughput growth
// 01 — about

Backend engineer who owns systems end-to-end.

I'm a Python backend engineer with 10+ years of programming experience and 5+ years building production-grade backend platforms professionally — all in fully remote environments. My core stack is Python, FastAPI, Celery, Redis, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Docker, GCP, and Linux.

I'm currently at Starfish, building the backend platform behind digital supply chain traceability and connected product data. I develop asynchronous Python services with FastAPI, AsyncIO, and MongoDB, deploy and operate them on Google Cloud Platform, design data models for connected entities and events, and build scalable integrations between partner systems.

Previously at Little Forest, I led the re-architecture of a legacy Java crawling platform into a Python-based distributed system, scaling it from 100,000 to over 100 million requests. I designed high-performance data pipelines, implemented distributed task processing, optimized PostgreSQL at scale, and containerized core services with Docker while managing Linux production infrastructure end-to-end.

Beyond development, I'm responsible for production reliability, infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and operational troubleshooting across distributed services. I enjoy technically challenging work involving scalability, automation, and high-volume data processing — and I'm currently open to new remote opportunities across Europe, the UK, and the US, full-time or B2B.

// 02 — services

What I can build for you.

Available for full-time roles or B2B contracts — long-term partnerships are preferred. I help teams ship reliable backend systems and recover from scaling pain.

⚙️

Backend Architecture

Design and build production-grade Python services. Re-architect legacy systems into clean, maintainable, container-friendly codebases.

🌐

Distributed Systems

Scale crawling, ingestion, and data pipelines using Celery, Redis, and message queues. Battle-tested patterns from 100M+ request workloads.

🔌

APIs & Integrations

RESTful APIs that internal teams and third parties actually want to use — properly documented, versioned, and instrumented.

🗄️

Data & Databases

PostgreSQL and ElasticSearch design, query tuning, and schema evolution at scale. Index audits, slow-query triage, capacity planning.

🐳

DevOps & Infrastructure

Linux production ops, Docker, CI/CD, monitoring, and operational troubleshooting. End-to-end ownership from deployment pipeline to 2 a.m. pager rotations.

🤖

AI-Assisted Delivery

Advanced day-to-day use of Claude Code for design, implementation, and review — shipping faster without sacrificing engineering rigour.

// 03 — stack

Tools I work with daily.

// core backend

Python FastAPI AsyncIO Pydantic Celery Redis Flask Django REST APIs

// data & storage

PostgreSQL MongoDB Beanie ODM ElasticSearch Schema design Query tuning

// devops & infra

Docker GCP Kubernetes Linux Shell Git / GitHub CI/CD

// reliability

Monitoring Troubleshooting Automation High availability

// adjacent

JavaScript Node.js PDF processing Web crawling

// productivity

Claude Code Code review Async collab
// 04 — experience

Where I've shipped.

Jun 2026 — Present · Starfish (Remote, US)

Senior Backend Engineer — Python & FastAPI

  • Building the backend platform powering digital supply chain traceability and connected product data
  • Developing and maintaining asynchronous Python services with FastAPI and AsyncIO
  • Designing data models for connected entities, events, products, and locations
  • Building integrations between partner systems through scalable data connectors
  • Delivering production-ready software with automated testing, code reviews, and CI/CD
  • Deploying and operating backend services on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to build reliable, high-quality backend systems
Feb 2021 — May 2026 · Little Forest (Remote, UK)

Backend Engineer — Python & Distributed Systems

  • Led re-architecture of a legacy Java crawling platform into a Python-based, Dockerized distributed system
  • Scaled crawling infrastructure from ~100K page crawls to 100M+ requests
  • Built high-performance data pipelines processing millions of web records daily
  • Extended the platform to support PDF ingestion and structured data extraction
  • Built and optimized RESTful APIs for internal services and third-party integrations
  • Implemented distributed task processing with Celery + Redis for throughput and fault tolerance
  • Designed, optimized, and maintained PostgreSQL / ElasticSearch databases at scale
  • Managed Linux production infrastructure end-to-end
  • Conducted code reviews and contributed to engineering standards across cross-functional teams
Feb 2018 — Jun 2020 · UTAD Solutions Consulting · Vila Real, PT

External Vice President

  • Led external partnerships and cross-team coordination within a university consulting organization during B.Sc. studies
Jan 2015 — Dec 2017 · J.A.J. Informática Lda · Caldas da Rainha, PT

IT Systems Administrator

  • Automated backup processes with PowerShell — improved reliability, reduced manual workload
  • Managed Windows Server environments — uptime, security, and performance
  • Deployed and configured Microsoft Exchange supporting email infrastructure and user management
// 05 — education

Background.

Sep 2020 — Jul 2022

MSc Computer Engineering

University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro
Thesis: Development and maintenance of digital platforms, both front-end and back-end, at Little Forest UK. Publication: "Why Web Accessibility Is Important for Your Institution" — ScienceDirect, 2023.
Sep 2017 — Jul 2020

BS Information Technology

University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro
Sep 2016 — Jul 2017

BS Information Technology

Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon
// 06 — contact

Let's build something solid.

Looking for a backend engineer who can take a system from architecture to production and own it through the rough edges? I'd love to hear about what you're working on — full-time or B2B.