Aurora
Senior Backend Engineer
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Backend Engineer (Remote & London-based)
Remote, frequent trips to London
Salary: $100,000 - $170,000 Meaningful equity
About Aurora
Aurora is the Lifestyle Operating System, empowering the world's highest-performing individuals.
Consumer technology was supposed to help us make smarter choices—finding the right restaurant, trip, or doctor—but today's platforms favor scrolling, ads, and engagement loops. Instead, Aurora reverses this trend.
Our platform takes millions of data points about you and about the world and identifies the one perfect thing tailored just for you, at the right moment.
Our Impact So Far
- Used by tier-1 founders, executives, and athletes
- 95% use Aurora weekly, with 5× industry-leading member spend in the first six months
- Backed and chaired by Alex Macdonald, one of the most successful founders in this category
- Raised > $5M from experienced operators and top-tier investors
Aurora is built from our offices in London, New York, and Los Angeles. The engineering team works primarily from our London office in Belgravia, with this role requiring at least one week per month in-person from day one. Full relocation to London is expected within six months.
The Role
Aurora is hiring an **ambitious Backend Engineer to work alongside our CTO and a world-class engineering team to develop and refine our core backend systems.
What You’ll Do
- Design and build scalable backend services and APIs using Python and Django
- Own features end-to-end (from initial design to production deployment)
- Maintain and improve background processing, agent orchestration, and LLM integrations
- Work with context-heavy data pipelines and RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems
- Optimize cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Enhance performance—SQL queries, background jobs, and API responses
- Debug complex production issues and lead incident resolution
- Implement secure coding practices and contribute to compliance efforts
- Collaborate with product, curators, and frontend/mobile engineers
- Code reviews to continuously raise the technical bar
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You’ll ship high-impact products to a discerning user base. We prioritize our work but stay pragmatic—fast execution with minimal waste.
Our early team comprises individuals who aspire to be founders, and Aurora serves as a high-performance startup academy. You’ll personally drive critical product evolution, contributing to day one and growing into broader technical or leadership roles.
Requirements
Technical& Operational Goals
✔ Design & build robust backend systems ✔ Take features from idea to production ✔ Ensure system reliability amid scaling ✔ Work closely with founders, products, and engineers
What You Need
Experience
- 5+ years building and operating production-grade backend systems
- Hands-on proficiency in Python and Django
Backend Fundamentals
- Expert-level knowledge of Django and DRF (common patterns, pitfalls)
- Strong SQL skills, including schema design and performance optimization
- Experience with background job systems, preferably Celery
- Ability to design observable, reliable systems
- Experience with LLMs or AI infrastructure
- Familiarity with agent-based systems or RAG pipelines
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Infrastructure & Cloud
- Experience running cloud-native systems (ideally on GCP)
- Working knowledge of Infrastructure as Code, particularly Terraform
- ProductionOps mentality—able to build and operate systems, not just write code
Product Mindset
- Care about how users interact with systems, not just technical details
- Think proactively about reliability, latency, and failure modes
- Comfortable with trade-offs in design, architecture, and implementation
Collaboration
- Work effectively with product managers, designers, and engineers
- Transparent communicator with a results-driven approach
- Enjoys being in-person and close to the customer’s needs
Nice to Have
- Familiarity with compliance frameworks (SOC2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001)
- Basic understanding of frontend or mobile stacks (e.g., Flutter, Vue)
Benefits
Aurora rewards contributions with ambitious incentives:
🔹 $2,000 annual Tech & Education budget 🔹 Complimentary wellness tech (Oura Ring or Whoop) 🔹 Longevity testing subscription 🔹 Lifestyle perks, networking events, and elite access 🔹 Full health benefits with 90% coverage (inclusive of dental & vision) 🔹 Frequent, high-quality complimentary dining experiences + evening transport
Join a high-growth product early—shape its future and grow alongside it.
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