Senior Engineer - Technical Leadership or Architect Track

Alt Legal is a forward-thinking company changing how trademark professionals manage global intellectual property. Trusted by over 1,000 global law firms, IP boutiques, and Fortune 100 companies, our platform automates and simplifies IP management, helping legal professionals efficiently handle filings, manage deadlines, and identify infringement. Managing millions of filings, Alt Legal is recognized as one of the most respected trademark companies in the IP world. Our mission is to make trademark professionals’ lives easier through powerful automation, integrated tools, and exceptional customer service.

Job Description

We’re looking for a senior-level software engineer with deep backend expertise and solid front-end experience who can step in across the stack when needed.

This is a hands-on role for someone ready to own architectural decisions, guide technical direction, and work directly with the CTO to elevate our engineering practices. You’ll collaborate with a mature engineering team, make key system-level decisions, and ensure our platform remains secure, scalable, and maintainable.

This role is ideal for someone who wants to grow into a Tech Lead or Architect role while staying close to the code.

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend systems and APIs using Python (Django).
• Lead or contribute to architecture and technical design discussions.
• Collaborate with front-end engineers and occasionally implement or debug React-based features.
• Partner directly with the CTO to define technical standards, architecture, and development practices.
• Own and evolve the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring reliability and automation best practices.
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code; perform thoughtful peer reviews.
• Mentor engineers and help establish engineering best practices across teams.
• Leverage AI-powered development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Cody) to accelerate delivery and improve efficiency.
• Model engineering excellence and support the growth of a high-performing engineering culture.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong backend focus.
• 4+ years of hands-on Django experience building and maintaining production systems.
• Strong PostgreSQL skills — able to design and optimize schemas, queries, and migrations.
• Deep understanding of Django ORM, database transactions, and performance tuning.
• Working proficiency with React — able to implement and debug production features.
• Proven experience integrating with third-party APIs and maintaining reliable integrations.
• Familiarity with AWS or Azure, Terraform, and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• AI-forward mindset — already using or eager to master AI development tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot.
• Strong problem-solving skills — capable of researching, designing, and executing solutions independently.
• Ownership mentality — thrives in environments where success is measured by outcomes, not tasks.
• Self-directed, comfortable with ambiguity, and motivated to grow into leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch (index design, query tuning, scaling).
• Familiarity with observability stacks and production logging/metrics/tracing best practices.
• Strong understanding of Azure infrastructure, networking, and cloud services.
• Familiarity with Metabase or other analytics/reporting tools.
• Exposure to AI agents, LLM-based systems, or intelligent automation frameworks.
• Prior experience as a Tech Lead, Staff Engineer, or Architect in a scaling organization.
• Knowledge of microservices, event-driven systems, or containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience collaborating with distributed or outsourced teams.
• Strategic thinker – naturally researches options, considers trade-offs, and makes informed technical decisions. 
• Action-oriented – bias toward shipping and iterating. 
• Proactive – identifies problems and solutions before being asked. 
• Collaborative – works well with our existing team and can help build culture. 
• Growth-minded – excited about the opportunity to grow with the company.
• Quality-focused – balances speed with maintainable, scalable code.
• Persistent – doesn’t give up when faced with complex technical challenges. 

What We Offer

• Direct collaboration with the CTO on architecture, strategy, and delivery.
• High degree of ownership and autonomy in shaping our technical direction.
• A clear growth path toward Staff Engineer, Tech Lead, or Architect roles.
• Competitive compensation, flexible remote culture, and modern technology stack.

Alt Legal is a customer-obsessed, forward-thinking company that believes great technology should simplify and empower. Our mission is to transform intellectual property management through intuitive automation and exceptional service. We’re proud to support over 1,000 global law firms and companies—and even more excited about the growth potential ahead of us. 

We’re a collaborative, kind, and diverse team that thrives in open, inclusive, and positive environments. We believe that a variety of perspectives leads to better ideas and stronger outcomes. Founded on the values of innovation, simplicity, and support, we ensure that every team member can grow while making meaningful contributions. Alt Legal is LGBTQ+ friendly, and we enthusiastically encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply.

If you’re interested, you should submit your application via Breezy with a resume in PDF and a short statement explaining your specific interest in this role as well as why you'd like to join the Alt Legal team (2-3 sentences). If you have any technical materials (blog posts, articles, research papers, open source projects, etc.) that you’ve authored or created, we’d love to see some samples too. We will review applications on a rolling basis.

Please note: We're not accepting solicitations from recruiters or agencies for this position. All candidates must apply directly.