Python Backend Developer w/ DevOps Experience

NO AGENCIES. INDEPENDENT FREELANCERS ONLY. REQUIRED: Must be available 9am-5pm PST timezone READ THIS FIRST: We're looking for a hands-on Python backend developer with real DevOps experience to join on a contract basis. This role is for a Python backend engineer who has personally operated production infrastructure. You will write Python daily AND own the infrastructure your code runs on. Your work will be writing Python code and improving the AWS and Kubernetes infrastructure that runs those services, including CI/CD, observability, and security automation. It's a backend engineering role with full ownership of the production environment. Key Responsibilities: - Build, maintain, and scale Python backend services that power the AI video generation pipeline, including APIs, async workers, and data processing jobs. - Own service deployment end-to-end: write Dockerfiles, configure Kubernetes (EKS) manifests, manage Helm charts, and ship to production through automated pipelines. - Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or equivalent). Add automated testing, container scanning, and deployment gates. - Use Terraform or equivalent IaC to provision and manage AWS infrastructure (VPC, IAM, RDS, S3, ECR, EKS, etc.) for the services you ship. - Write Python automation for operational work: deployment tooling, dependency upgrades, log analysis, and incident response scripts. - Configure monitoring, logging, and alerting (Prometheus, Datadog, Grafana, CloudWatch, or ELK). Build dashboards for the services you own. - Lead technical incident response for the services you build. Conduct root cause analysis and write postmortems with concrete remediation actions. - Embed security best practices into your code and infrastructure: least-privilege IAM, secrets management, encryption at rest and in transit, container image scanning. - Secure data pipelines handling user-uploaded media, AI model assets, and generated content. Implement access controls and audit logging. - Support SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliance by writing automation for evidence collection and policy enforcement where it touches your services. Requirements: 4+ years of professional Python backend development experience in production environments. You will be asked to write code, debug existing systems, and reason through unfamiliar codebases during the screening process. Strong hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes (EKS preferred). You should be able to write manifests, debug pod failures, and operate clusters in production without hand-holding. Hands-on AWS experience across core services (VPC, IAM, S3, RDS, EC2, EKS, ECR, Lambda). You should know how to harden these services, not just consume them. Strong Terraform or equivalent IaC experience. You should have written and maintained IaC modules used in production, not just read them. Working knowledge of CI/CD pipeline configuration and container supply chain integrity. Experience with monitoring and alerting tools (Prometheus, Datadog, Grafana, ELK, or CloudWatch). Strong written communication for runbooks, postmortems, and technical documentation. Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-autonomy environment where priorities shift rapidly. Business-level English (written and spoken). Nice to Have: AWS certifications (Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer) or CKA / CKAD.