Job title: Python Lead / Lead Python Engineer Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Employment type: Full-time Experience: 10+ years Joining preference: Immediate joiners or candidates with a very short notice period. About the Role We are looking for a highly experienced, hands-on Python Lead to drive technical feasibility. application architecture, backend development, and end-to-end product delivery. This is a player-coach role combining hands-on Python engineering with technical leadership. You will evaluate new product ideas, build proof of concepts (PoCs), make architecture decisions, lead a team of engineers, and take applications from feasibility to production. Key Responsibilities • Conduct technical feasibility studies, PoCs, and build-versus-buy evaluations. • Prepare feasibility reports with effort estimates, costs, risks, and go/no-go recommendations. • Design scalable, secure, and maintainable Python applications and REST APIs. • Develop backend services using Python and frameworks such as FastAPI, Django, or Flask. • Own application architecture, code quality, performance optimization, and production releases. • Work with PostgreSQL / MySQL, Redis / MongoDB, task queues, and message brokers. • Manage cloud deployments, Docker, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and production operations. • Lead, mentor, and guide a team of 3–6 engineers. • Drive code reviews, sprint planning, technical documentation, and engineering best practices. • Collaborate with the Founder / CTO and stakeholders to ensure timely product delivery. Requirements Mandatory Skills • 10+ years of overall software engineering experience. • 6+ years of hands-on production experience with Python 3.x. • Strong experience with FastAPI, Django, or Flask and REST API development. • Experience designing and delivering at least two production systems end to end. • Proven experience in technical feasibility studies and PoCs. • Strong database knowledge: PostgreSQL or MySQL, plus Redis or MongoDB. • Experience with Celery / RQ or equivalent task queues and RabbitMQ / Kafka / SQS. • Production experience with AWS / Azure / GCP, Docker, and CI/CD. • Hands-on experience with pytest, code quality tools, and Python type checking. • Knowledge of application security, OAuth2 / JWT, OWASP Top 10, and access control. • At least 2 years of experience leading 3+ engineers. • Strong communication, problem-solving, estimation, and delivery ownership skills. Good-to-Have Skills • GenAI / LLM integrations, OpenAI / Anthropic APIs, RAG, and vector databases. • Applied cryptography, key management, and secure licensing mechanisms. • Kubernetes, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry. • React / Next.js familiarity and performance optimization using Rust, Cython, or Go. • Experience taking products from concept to production and first customers.