Overview

This range is provided by Substrakt. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range — Salary: £40,000 - £50,000

Location: We're looking for someone based in the UK to help us better support our clients and collaborate closely with our wider team. This is a remote role, so you can work from wherever you feel most comfortable.

At Substrakt, a UK based company with Global impact, we help arts and cultural organisations create exceptional digital experiences and we're looking for a Backend Engineer to help us do just that.

As part of our Engineering team, you'll build robust, high-quality backend solutions that power our clients' websites and digital products. From new website builds and custom integrations to performance optimisations and security enhancements, you'll play a vital role in delivering outstanding products and services.

Substrakt is an equal opportunities employer. We believe that diversity of thought and experience makes us stronger, and we actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, and abilities. Read more about our approach to inclusive recruitment.

Responsibilities

• Create exceptional backend solutions: Work on a range of projects across our client base including new builds, updates to existing websites, API integrations, infrastructure configurations, and other server-side tasks. You'll work with modern technologies such as PHP, WordPress, MySQL, SQL, Python, Wagtail, Heroku and AWS (S3, CloudFront, RDS) - always with performance, security, and scalability in mind
• Ensure quality and performance: Write clean, efficient, and secure code following best practices. You'll test thoroughly, debug issues, and optimise performance to ensure reliable and seamless user experiences. You'll also contribute to code reviews and help maintain our high technical standards
• Collaborate and contribute: Work closely with frontend engineers, designers, and client-facing roles to ensure smooth delivery. You'll communicate directly with clients when needed to explain technical decisions, and support Producers and Support & Solutions Managers in scoping and technical planning.
• Own your work: Take responsibility for the technical quality of your solutions, contribute to internal best practices, and help shape the future of our backend engineering processes. You'll participate in solution reviews, submit and conduct code reviews, maintain technical documentation, and support continuous improvement

Qualifications

• What you’ll bring —
• Strong experience in backend development using modern frameworks and tools (e.g., PHP, Python, WordPress, Wagtail, Django)
• Familiarity with relational databases (MySQL) and cloud infrastructure (Heroku, AWS, Cloudflare)
• Understanding of performance optimisation, secure coding practices, and scalable system design
• Enthusiasm for working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team
• A friendly and helpful approach to communicating directly with clients
• Initiative, problem-solving mindset, and a drive to deliver high-quality work
• Openness to learn, share knowledge, and support others

Benefits

• We operate a flexible, hybrid working model that supports autonomy and work-life balance.
• Enhanced time off policies with focus on parents and carers, 25 days of vacation plus bank holidays, and you’ll never work a birthday again — because we give you that off
• NHS cashback scheme to support healthcare costs and a monthly wellbeing allowance of £50
• Six days per year for professional development, with a £500 budget
• Support for communication and connection through weekly mailers, a regular meeting cadence, internal awards, and bi-annual team gatherings to museums, art galleries and theatres
• A focus on building the right team structure and workflows so everyone knows what they're accountable for
• Opportunity to participate in steering groups that influence Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Internal Culture, Accessibility, AI, and Sustainability

If this sounds like you, and you like the sound of us, we'd love to hear from you.

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Other

Industries

• IT Services and IT Consulting