Backend Developer Jobs

A backend developer builds and maintains the server-side parts of a product: the APIs, business logic, databases and integrations that users never see but rely on with every click. The work involves writing endpoints, modelling data, fixing queries that slow down under load, reviewing pull requests, and handling incidents when something breaks in production. Most of it sits behind a REST or GraphQL API, connected to a relational database, often with a NoSQL store alongside for caching or high-volume reads.

The stack employers ask for is fairly settled. Java with Spring Boot is common in finance and larger enterprises; Python with Django or Flask, and Node.js with Express, appear across startups and scale-ups; Go shows up more in infrastructure-heavy teams. PostgreSQL or MySQL is usually the core database, frequently with MongoDB or Redis beside it. Docker, a cloud platform (AWS most often, then Azure or GCP), CI/CD pipelines and Git appear in nearly every job spec. Kubernetes, message queues such as Kafka or RabbitMQ, and system design knowledge tend to mark the line between mid and senior roles. A computer science degree helps, but a solid portfolio and GitHub history count for a lot too.

Pay falls into roughly three bands. Junior backend developers typically start around £28,000 to £38,000; mid-level developers with three to five years' experience earn around £45,000 to £65,000; senior engineers reach roughly £65,000 to £90,000, with staff and principal roles going higher, particularly in fintech. London salaries tend to run 30 to 40 per cent above the national average, though the gap is narrowing as remote hiring spreads. Hybrid work is now standard: two or three office days a week is the most common arrangement, with a sizeable share of fully remote, UK-wide posts. Progression runs from developer to senior, then either tech lead and engineering manager on the management track, or staff and principal engineer for those who prefer to stay close to the code and architecture.