Job description template

Back-End Developer

We’re looking for a mid-level Back-End Developer to design, build, and maintain reliable server-side services and APIs. You’ll work independently on well-defined work, collaborate with front-end and engineering peers, and help improve performance, reliability, and maintainability of our back-end systems.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain REST/GraphQL APIs and back-end services with clean, testable code
Design data models and implement database changes with attention to performance and correctness
Build and maintain background jobs/consumers for asynchronous workflows
Write and maintain automated tests and perform practical quality checks for back-end changes
Diagnose production issues, implement fixes, and help prevent repeat incidents through improvements
Collaborate with other engineers on system design, including API contracts, error handling, and observability needs
Contribute to code reviews, documentation, and ongoing refactoring to improve maintainability

Must-have qualifications

Hands-on experience building back-end services in one or more common languages (e.g., Java, Kotlin, C#, Go, Node.js, Python)
Experience designing and implementing REST and/or GraphQL APIs with strong understanding of HTTP semantics and versioning
Production experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases, including schema design and query performance tuning
Proficiency in writing automated tests for back-end components (unit, integration, and/or end-to-end where appropriate)
Working knowledge of authentication and authorization patterns for back-end systems
Experience with observability practices (logging, metrics, tracing) and using them to debug issues

Nice to have

Experience with asynchronous messaging (queues/streams) and designing idempotent consumers
Experience with cloud platforms and deployment workflows (e.g., containerization and CI/CD)
Familiarity with performance hardening (caching strategies, rate limiting, back-pressure)

What success looks like in 12 months

Core back-end endpoints and services are stable and meet reliability expectations
API and data changes land safely with strong automated coverage
Production debugging becomes faster and less frequent through better observability and fixes
Performance and scalability improve for critical back-end workflows

Logistics

Full-time (40 hours a week), remote from Latin America.
Working hours overlap with US business hours.

About the company

[About your company: what you build, your stage and team size]

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Interview scorecard

Score every candidate against the same bar

Deliver reliable, maintainable back-end services and APIs that improve product functionality while reducing production risk.

Outcomes to measure

What this hire should deliver in the first year. Replace [N] with your own targets.

Core back-end endpoints and services are stable and meet reliability expectations. Measure: Maintain uptime/error rate within [X]% of target and reduce incident volume by [Y]% over 12 months
API and data changes land safely with strong automated coverage. Measure: Increase automated test coverage for touched back-end components by [X]% and ensure [Y]% of releases include relevant tests
Production debugging becomes faster and less frequent through better observability and fixes. Measure: Reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR) for back-end incidents by [X]% and improve actionable logging such that [Y]% of incidents have clear root-cause evidence in logs/metrics/traces
Performance and scalability improve for critical back-end workflows. Measure: Improve p95 latency for [key endpoint/workflow] by [X]% and reduce database query time for [top queries] by [Y]%

Competencies and weights

What to evaluate, how much it counts and what a strong answer looks like.

API Design and Contracts · 22%
Back-end work here depends on clear contracts, correct semantics, and evolvable APIs. Evaluated in Round 1.

Weak: Implements endpoints without clear request/response contracts, inconsistent error handling, or ad-hoc versioning
Meets the bar: Builds APIs with documented contracts and consistent error responses, with some attention to versioning and backward compatibility
Strong: Designs stable, well-documented API contracts including pagination/versioning strategy and predictable error models; changes are backward-compatible where required

Database and Query Tuning · 20%
Correct data modeling and efficient queries are essential for performance and reliability. Evaluated in Round 1.

Weak: Changes schemas/queries without considering indexes or query plans; struggles to explain performance issues
Meets the bar: Designs schemas and writes queries with appropriate indexing; can identify and improve slow queries
Strong: Proactively models data for evolving use cases; optimizes queries using query-plan reasoning and measurable performance improvements

Testing and Quality · 19%
Well-tested changes reduce regressions and production incidents. Evaluated in Round 2.

Weak: Relies mainly on manual testing; tests are missing or not aligned with behavior
Meets the bar: Writes unit and/or integration tests for core logic and key failure cases; tests meaningfully validate behavior
Strong: Builds a thoughtful test pyramid for back-end changes, covers edge cases, and ensures tests are maintainable and reliable

Authentication and Authorization · 15%
Security correctness is required for back-end services handling user data and actions. Evaluated in Round 2.

Weak: Implements authorization inconsistently or can’t clearly explain access control boundaries
Meets the bar: Applies standard authN/authZ patterns and can explain how permissions are enforced for API actions
Strong: Designs robust access control boundaries, handles edge cases safely, and explains tradeoffs (e.g., least privilege, session/token handling)

Observability and Debugging · 15%
The role requires independent issue diagnosis and improvements using real signals. Evaluated in Round 3.

Weak: Can’t reliably trace issues to logs/metrics/traces; outputs unclear debug evidence
Meets the bar: Uses logs/metrics/traces to narrow down issues and validates fixes with measurable signals
Strong: Sets up/extends observability for key workflows, improves diagnostic quality, and drives root-cause prevention

Independent Delivery · 9%
Mid-level scope requires confident, independent execution on well-defined work. Evaluated in Round 3.

Weak: Needs frequent guidance to deliver; struggles to estimate or communicate progress
Meets the bar: Delivers well-defined tasks with minimal supervision; communicates status, risks, and tradeoffs
Strong: Scopes work effectively, anticipates risks, delivers predictably, and makes smart decisions within defined requirements

Interview questions

Questions for every interview round

Each round has an owner, a time box and questions that test the competencies above.

Round 1: Back-End Fundamentals
Engineering Lead · 60 min

Tell us about a back-end API you designed or implemented—how did you define request/response contracts and error handling?
Describe a data model and query you optimized in production. What was the bottleneck and what change improved performance?
How do you approach pagination/versioning for APIs that must evolve without breaking clients?
When you discover a performance problem, what evidence do you look for first (queries, indexes, application behavior) and why?

Round 2: Quality and Security
Senior Back-End Engineer · 60 min

Walk through the testing strategy you use for back-end services. What do you test with unit vs integration tests, and how do you decide coverage?
Describe a production bug you prevented (or caught early) using tests. What specifically did the test validate?
Explain how you implement authentication and authorization for back-end endpoints. How do you enforce permissions and handle edge cases?
How do you structure auth-related code to avoid repetition and reduce the chance of security regressions?

Round 3: Production Readiness
Staff Engineer or SRE · 60 min

Tell us about a difficult production incident you debugged. What signals (logs/metrics/traces) did you use and how did you confirm the fix?
Describe improvements you made to observability. What new metric/log/trace did you add and how did it help future debugging?
When you own a well-defined back-end task end-to-end, how do you plan, de-risk, and validate before and after deployment?

Red flags to watch for

Can’t explain how APIs handle errors, versioning, and backward compatibility in a consistent way
No clear experience writing tests that catch real regressions or verifying behavior beyond manual testing
Inconsistent or unclear approach to authorization boundaries, permissions, or secure defaults
Trouble describing how they use observability signals to debug production issues and confirm fixes
Frequently requires extensive guidance to deliver well-scoped back-end work

How much does it cost to hire a Back-End Developer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior Back-End Developer in Latin America costs $6,750 to $7,750 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 54% less. Mid-level starts at $4,500.

Country

Mid-level

Senior

Argentina

$4,500

$6,750

Brazil

$5,000

$7,500

Colombia

$4,500

$6,750

Mexico

$5,250

$7,750

United States

$11,875

$14,625

Monthly cost in USD, all-in: the talent's salary plus Teilur's flat 20% fee, from our 2026 rates. The United States row shows what the same role typically costs there.

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Frequently asked questions

What does a Back-End Developer do?

Typical responsibilities include: develop and maintain REST/GraphQL APIs and back-end services with clean, testable code; design data models and implement database changes with attention to performance and correctness; build and maintain background jobs/consumers for asynchronous workflows. The full list is in the template above.

How much does it cost to hire a Back-End Developer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior Back-End Developer in Latin America costs $6,750 to $7,750 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 54% less. Mid-level starts at $4,500.

Can I customize this Back-End Developer job description?

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Back-End Developer Job Description Template