Senior Full-Stack Engineer (Backend / Data Platform)

MEAN · AWS · Python (strong plus)

Berlin / Remote
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Context

Talonic is an enterprise data platform. We turn unstructured data and full repositories of such into clean, system-ready datasets for downstream systems (ERP, CRM, procurement, contract management, etc.).

This role owns the platform layer — not extraction, not AI research, not prompt tuning.

We are working with enterprise customers and are on a steep growth trajectory as an early-stage startup. You can build something that matters here. This role exists to stabilize and scale platform behavior under real delivery pressure.
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What the platform actually does

• Accepts and manages unstructured data
• Receives structured data outputs from our AI data extractor API
• Applies schema logic, overwrites, and dataset composition
• Manages uploads → processing → dataset → export
• Handles user interaction, permissions, and data lifecycle
• Integrates into customer systems (e.g. Dynamics, Ivalua)
• Runs in AWS, sometimes inside customer-managed VPCs

This is a data system, not an AI system.
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Your mandate

You are a senior IC owning backend platform behavior end-to-end.

Your job is to make sure that:

• Data moves through the system correctly, predictably, and observably
• State transitions are explicit and debuggable
• The platform can be used safely in enterprise workflows
• Frontend behavior reflects backend truth — not the other way around

Concretely, you will:

• Own backend services (Node.js / Express) that power the platform
• Design and maintain data models in MongoDB
• Integrate cleanly with internal APIs (extraction, pipelines)
• Implement dataset assembly, overwrite logic, exports, and lifecycle handling
• Build and maintain Python services where appropriate (data handling, utilities, integrations)
• Work closely with frontend engineers without delegating backend correctness
• Reduce ad-hoc fixes and founder/CTO arbitration through clear system behavior
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What you will not do

• You will not work on LLMs, prompts, or extraction logic
• You will not treat the backend as a thin UI adapter
• You will not hide broken backend behavior behind UI workarounds
• You will not introduce abstraction for its own sake
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Required profile (non-negotiable)

You likely have 7+ years of professional experience and:

• Strong backend engineering background
• Deep Node.js / Express experience
• Solid MongoDB and data modeling intuition
• Production AWS experience (deployments, IAM basics, networking awareness)
• Practical Python experience (services, data handling, APIs)
• Experience building or maintaining data platforms or B2B SaaS systems
• Comfort owning systems used by real customers under contract

You care about:

• Correct data over pretty interfaces
• Explicit state over implicit behavior
• Fewer moving parts over cleverness
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Strong signals (nice to have)

• Experience with data-heavy products (ETL, analytics platforms, integration layers)
• Enterprise or B2B SaaS background
• Exposure to system integrations (ERP, CRM, procurement tools)
• Experience cleaning up or stabilizing existing platforms
• Ability to say “this should not be built” and be right
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Team & structure

• You are a senior individual contributor
• You work closely with:
  • CEO (product ownership)
  • CTO (delivery pressure, needs load reduction)
  • Data Pipeline Owner (separate role, owns extraction/pipelines)
  • Frontend engineers (execution-focused)
• You are not a PM
• You are not expected to manage people

This role exists to collapse platform complexity and improve delivery reliability.
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Hiring philosophy

We optimize for:

• Ownership over breadth
• Data Correctness over Integrity
• Engineers who think in systems, not screens

False positives are extremely costly for us.
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Compensation

• Base salary: €80,000 - €90,000 gross per year, depending on experience and demonstrated ownership
• Equity: Meaningful equity ownership in Talonic, subject to role fit and long-term commitment
• Benefits: Standard package (equipment budget, Deutschlandticket, flexible remote setup)

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