Back End Engineer (Contract)

Build the technology behind Australia’s leading architecture and design media platforms

Sydney | Hybrid | Contract

Are you a senior Back End Engineer who enjoys taking ownership, solving complex problems and working on real-world digital platforms used by large audiences?

We’re partnering with Indesign Media, one of Australia’s leading architecture and design media companies, to find an experienced Back End Engineer to join their digital team on a contract basis.

This is an opportunity for a technically strong, self-sufficient engineer to take ownership of the systems, APIs and services powering a portfolio of established digital platforms.

You'll work across Node.js, WordPress, APIs, cloud infrastructure and SQL databases, collaborating with front-end developers, internal stakeholders and external technology partners to build scalable, reliable and secure solutions.

This is not a role where you'll be heavily managed or given highly prescriptive tickets. We're looking for someone who can quickly understand an existing environment, identify opportunities and challenges, and confidently take ownership of back-end development from day one.

The Opportunity

As the Back End Engineer, you'll play a key role in maintaining and evolving the technology behind Indesign Media's digital platforms.

You'll work across modern back-end services and established WordPress environments, integrating platforms with internal systems and third-party services while ensuring systems remain reliable, scalable and secure.

You'll be trusted to make technical decisions, solve problems independently and work closely with the wider digital team to deliver practical, high-quality solutions.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design, build and maintain robust back-end services and APIs, primarily using Node.js
• Develop and maintain WordPress-based platforms, including custom PHP development, themes and plugins
• Build and maintain integrations between web platforms, internal systems and third-party services
• Design and manage scalable SQL databases
• Monitor, maintain and improve production systems hosted in AWS
• Ensure back-end services and infrastructure are secure, reliable and performant
• Troubleshoot production issues and identify opportunities to improve system stability and performance
• Make informed system architecture and scalability decisions
• Produce clear technical documentation and operational procedures
• Collaborate closely with front-end developers, internal stakeholders and external technology partners
• Manage priorities independently and take ownership of work with minimal day-to-day supervision

What We're Looking For

We're looking for a senior-level Back End Engineer who is comfortable stepping into an existing technology environment and quickly becoming a trusted technical owner.

You'll likely have strong experience across modern web development and cloud infrastructure and be equally comfortable writing code, designing APIs, troubleshooting production issues and making practical architectural decisions.

Essential Experience

• Significant commercial experience as a Back End Engineer or Senior Back End Developer
• Deep hands-on expertise with Node.js
• Strong WordPress development experience, including:
  • Custom PHP development
  • Custom themes and plugins
  • WordPress hooks and data structures
  • Working within and extending existing WordPress environments
• Strong experience designing and integrating RESTful APIs
• Experience integrating internal systems and third-party platforms
• Strong SQL database design, optimisation and management skills
• Production experience with AWS or similar cloud infrastructure
• Experience deploying, monitoring and securing live production systems
• Strong understanding of system design, architecture, scalability and performance
• Experience working with Git and modern collaboration tooling, including Atlassian products
• Ability to create clear technical documentation and operational procedures
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Comfortable working independently with minimal onboarding or day-to-day supervision

Highly Regarded

Experience in any of the following will be highly advantageous:

• Salesforce API and platform integrations
• Synchronising Salesforce with web platforms or other internal systems
• OAuth, OpenID Connect and modern authentication flows
• CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes
• Event-driven architecture
• Message queues and asynchronous processing
• React or other modern front-end frameworks
• Media, publishing, content platforms or high-traffic digital environments

Why This Role?

This is an opportunity to work on established, real-world digital platforms for one of Australia's most recognised companies in the architecture and design media space.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Take meaningful ownership of back-end systems rather than working on isolated tickets
• Work across Node.js, APIs, WordPress, cloud infrastructure and databases
• Solve real technical and integration challenges
• Work alongside a collaborative digital and technology team
• Contribute to the evolution of established digital platforms
• Work in a creative, fast-paced environment at the intersection of media, technology and design

Contract Details

Location: Sydney, Australia
Working arrangement: Hybrid

This role requires regular time in the Sydney office, with flexibility to work from home on other days.

Contract length: To be confirmed
Rate: To be confirmed

Interested?

If you're a senior Back End Engineer who enjoys ownership, autonomy and solving real-world technical challenges, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply with your CV and, where available, examples of relevant projects, GitHub work or technical portfolio.