Senior Python Engineer

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Company Description

Xapien is one of the brightest and most exciting tech companies to appear over the last few years. The AI-powered automated research platform is redefining background research and gaining critical success from clients.

Every business in the world, in every sector, needs to know who they are engaging with and Xapien helps them answer that question - quickly and accurately. We use deep Natural Language Processing, AI and huge scale cloud infrastructure to automate human research.

We locate, collect, read, distil and assimilate hundreds of thousands of fragments of information - allowing us to understand a person or company like a human would.

We deliver daily insight to major financial institutions, industry regulators, charities and commercial organisations - and the potential market for the solution is enormous.

Founded in 2018 by experts in national intelligence and anti-money laundering, Xapien aims to revolutionise business due diligence with its AI-driven technology. Since securing Series A funding, our team has grown to 50, and we've achieved notable recognitions, including ranking 33rd globally in Chartis Research's FCC50 and winning the Entity Management award.

Job Description

The Role

As a Senior Python Developer at Xapien, you will play a pivotal role in owning and enhancing Xapien Insights, a core component of our innovative AI-powered reports. We are seeking a Python expert with a strong background in building reliable, scalable systems and experience in a second language, such as Go or C#. In this position, you'll have a hands-on role in designing, developing, and deploying key components within Xapien Insights, contributing to the future of due diligence technology.

Beyond coding, you'll mentor a graduate in prompt engineering, helping develop their skills as they join you in delivering advanced, AI-driven solutions. If you bring experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) or other large language models, that's a great advantage, though our primary focus is on solid Python software engineering skills. You'll have ownership over your projects, enjoying the autonomy to lead end-to-end development, and collaborating closely with a talented team to drive innovation in the industry

Core responsibilities

• Own and enhance Xapien Insights as a key feature of our AI-powered reports, ensuring functionality is reliable, scalable, and meets strategic goals.
• Apply Test-Driven Development (TDD) and rigorous testing practices to produce reliable, maintainable code that meets high-quality standards.
• Optimise code for performance and scalability, primarily using Python and leveraging Go, C#, or similar languages when appropriate.
• Mentor and support junior developers, particularly in prompt engineering and TDD principles, promoting a learning environment that values quality and innovation.

Ways of working and best practices

We work in an agile environment to maximise productivity, and the team is always encouraged to share their own ideas! You'll be working cross-functionally with our Research, Engineering, Product, Customer Support, and Sales team to contribute to the continued success of our product.

Technology you will use / learn
Python, C#, Go, Vector databases, AWS, LLMs (GPT, Cohere)

Qualifications

• Python and another programming language (e.g, C# / Go) - You'll bring solid experience in Python, with a strong grasp of best practices for efficient, clean code. Any experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) frameworks or similar is a bonus and highly beneficial to this role.
• Testing experience (TDD, BDD) - You should bring a disciplined approach to TDD, with hands-on experience in writing tests from the outset of development, guaranteeing robustness and maintainability.
• Data stores (e.g, Vector) - You'll ideally have hands-on experience working with vector data stores, optimising data retrieval and storage solutions within AI-driven products.
• Cloud provider (e.g, AWS / GCP) - You should bring a strong understanding of AWS (or GCP), with practical experience in deploying, managing, and optimising cloud-based applications, ensuring they remain reliable and scalable.

Additional Information

• Equity in the business in the form of shares - You will own a meaningful part of the business through our employee shares & equity programme
• Unlimited Paid Time Off for you to take time to recharge.
• A professional development fund of £1,000 per year - we invest in our people and always encourage growth!
• Private health and Life insurance
• High-spec MacBook + £200 for equipment setup
• Regular team lunches and social events, from go-karting to mini golf to karaoke to rounders in the park
• X day - one whole company day off every February so we can all switch off Slack and reset
• Flexible working + flexible hours (2 days per week in our WeWork in Moorgate)

Salary: £80,000 - £100,000 per year + bonus

Please note, we cannot sponsor applicants now or in the future. Thank you

Our Values

• Take ownership - We keep our organisation simple, valuing people over policies. We encourage ownership and decision-making.
• Better together - We care about each other and go out of our way to help colleagues succeed. We value relationships and take a genuine interest.
• Transparent - Our business is creating transparency in business relationships; so internally we are 'default share', even when it feels uncomfortable.
• Glass-half-full - This is about being real but still choosing to be optimistic. We celebrate wins and encourage each other to build forward.
• Be pioneers - We are leaders not followers - bold, ambitious and can-do. We don't start with what's possible, we start with what we want to achieve, then ask 'what has to be true'?
• Move fast - This is our moment to make our mark on the world. So we work to ambitious deadlines, launch fast and iterate, always streamline, and remain decisive amid huge uncertainty.
• Value learning - We are all learning, always. We take time to explain, even if it's quicker to do it ourselves.
• Always decent - We are polite, thankful and straightforward. Everyone is down-to-earth, informal and approachable.
• A players - Working here should be stretching and exhilarating. We only hire, and keep, the best, enquiring people that will keep us on our toes.