Lead Python Developer

Description

Summary: Seeking a Lead Python Developer to drive technical direction and hands-on development for backend AI services, LLM orchestration, and agentic experiences, blending leadership with deep technical ownership. Highlights: 1. Lead technical direction and architecture for AI services 2. Hands-on Python development in AI, LLM orchestration, and agentic experiences 3. Mentor engineers and ensure operational excellence for pod services We are seeking a **Lead Python Developer** to drive technical direction and hands\-on development within our pod, focusing on backend AI services, LLM orchestration and agentic experiences. You will write production code, mentor engineers, and collaborate cross\-functionally with Security, Data and Infrastructure teams while partnering with US\-based product and engineering counterparts. This role blends embedded leadership with deep technical ownership, ensuring observability, reliability and operational excellence across pod services. **Responsibilities** * Set technical direction for the pod and own architecture decisions within scope * Write production code (\~50%\+ of the time) across backend AI services, LLM orchestration and frontend integration * Design and build Agentic Experiences (AX) with streaming, low\-latency agent UIs * Mentor 3 Senior Engineers and 1 Data Engineer within the pod * Partner with Security, Data and Infrastructure teams on daily collaboration * Align with US\-based product and engineering counterparts * Conduct design reviews and unblock sprint deliverables * Enforce observability, SLOs and reliability standards for pod services **Requirements** * 5\+ years of software engineering experience with a track record of owning complex backend systems end\-to\-end * 1–2\+ years on LLM\-era AI/ML platforms such as LangChain, LangGraph or Bedrock in a production context; candidates with deeper pre\-LLM ML backgrounds (TensorFlow, scikit\-learn) who have made a clear and recent pivot to generative AI will also be considered * Expert\-level proficiency in Python for backend services and AI integration as the primary language for all backend and AI work * Hands\-on expertise in LangChain, LangGraph and LangSmith for orchestrating multi\-step, multi\-agent workflows and evaluation/observability * Proven background in AWS, Docker and microservices at production scale * Skills in GitHub Actions, ArgoCD and OpenTofu/Terraform * Competency in secure coding practices, auth/authz awareness and data governance as default standards * Expertise in API design including RESTful APIs and microservices * English proficiency at B2 level or higher **Nice to have** * Fluency in React and TypeScript with the capability to contribute to UI\-layer code and review frontend work * Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) and emerging agent interoperability standards * Knowledge of AI evaluation tooling such as RAGAS or custom eval frameworks * Background in designing and optimizing RAG pipelines with vector databases (Amazon Kendra, OpenSearch) * Understanding of identity/security domains (IAM, CIAM) and handling unstructured data (images, videos) with prompt context management via LangGraph State **We offer** * International projects with top brands * Work with global teams of highly skilled, diverse peers * Healthcare benefits * Employee financial programs * Paid time off and sick leave * Upskilling, reskilling and certification courses * Unlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning library and 22,000\+ courses * Global career opportunities * Volunteer and community involvement opportunities * EPAM Employee Groups * Award\-winning culture recognized by Glassdoor, Newsweek and LinkedIn