We are seeking a Backend Developer for a full-time position based in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is a 12-month engagement focused on designing, developing, and maintaining scalable microservices and backend platform components using modern technologies and best practices. Responsibilities Design, develop, enhance, and maintain scalable microservices and backend platform components using Rust and Python. Build API-first solutions following OpenAPI standards and best practices. Apply AI-Driven Development techniques and tools to accelerate software development, testing, documentation, and operational efficiency. Collaborate with architects, product managers, and engineering teams to design robust and scalable solutions. Troubleshoot, optimize, and resolve application, API, and performance-related issues. Develop and execute unit, integration, and automated tests to ensure software quality and reliability. Maintain awareness of emerging technologies, AI capabilities, and engineering best practices, and evaluate their applicability within the organization. Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards, best practices, and design discussions. Work closely with DevOps and release engineering teams to deploy new features and production improvements. Create and maintain technical documentation, API specifications, and operational runbooks. Contribute to the continuous improvement of development processes, tooling, and platform architecture. Apply software design patterns and engineering best practices to deliver maintainable, scalable, and secure solutions. Qualifications Required Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. Minimum of 3 years of professional software development experience building backend applications, APIs, or microservices using Rust and Python. Strong hands-on experience developing and consuming RESTful APIs using OpenAPI/Swagger specifications. Demonstrated experience with AI-Driven Development, including the effective use of AI-assisted engineering tools for code generation, testing, debugging, documentation, code reviews, and software design. Strong programming skills in Rust and Python, with solid understanding of software engineering principles, design patterns, and clean code practices. Experience developing and operating microservices in distributed environments. Understanding of API security, authentication, and authorization mechanisms such as OAuth2, JWT, and service-to-service authentication. Experience with Python package management and dependency management tools (pip, Poetry, or similar). Working knowledge of containerization technologies such as Docker. Experience with source control systems and modern development workflows using Git. Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Self-motivated team player with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Preferred Exposure to cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP. Experience with cloud-native services, container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure automation. Formal cloud training and industry-recognized cloud certifications. Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new technologies and adapt to evolving business and technical requirements.