(Senior) Backend Engineer — Trading & Asset Optimization

<h1>(Senior) Backend Engineer — Trading &amp; Asset Optimization<br /><br /></h1><h2><strong>Why Now</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">European energy costs run 2× those in the US and China. Electricity demand is on track to double by 2050. Volatility and complexity aren't temporary — they are structural.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">trawa is building the solution: the first integrated B2B energy platform that bundles procurement, energy management, and flexibility steering into one product. Supply, Manage, Flex — together they unlock up to 30% in recurring electricity cost savings, while shifting companies onto renewable energy.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">We are the fastest-growing B2B energy platform in Europe — active in Germany and Austria today, expanding to a third market in 2027. The window is open, and we intend to own it.<br /><br /></p><h2><strong>About trawa</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">trawa is based in Berlin with ~100 FTE, ~30 of whom work in Product &amp; Tech. We have raised over €35M to date — including a €24M Series A in May 2025 — backed by Balderton, Headline, Speedinvest, AENU, Magnetic, and Tiny VC. All three founders are on board and fully committed to building the utility of the future.<br /><br /></p><h2><strong>About the role</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">You'll join the team that owns <strong>energy trading and asset optimization</strong> at trawa - the engine that turns market signals and live asset data into smart, automated decisions. It's a data-intensive, high-stakes part of trawa's tech platform where good engineering directly moves the numbers that matter.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">We're looking for someone who loves building complex systems, takes real ownership of what they ship, and makes the people around them better. You'll shape architecture, drive initiatives end-to-end, and help define how the team builds.<br /><br /></p><h2><strong>What you'll work on</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Designing and building the backend systems behind our trading and asset-optimization platform. The services, data flows, and logic that need to be both fast and dependable.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Owning initiatives end to end: gathering requirements with product and trading colleagues, shaping the approach, and rolling it out iteratively.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Working at the intersection of backend and data - modeling and moving data so it's reliable, explorable, and useful to the people who depend on it, including our data scientists and quantitative traders.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Raising the bar on quality, observability, and how we reason about correctness in a system where mistakes are expensive.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Operating and maintaining what we build. We stay with our systems after launch: keeping them healthy in production, learning from how they behave, and improving them over time.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em">Our backend is Python-based: we run on AWS with Terraform, and build with FastAPI, Pydantic, and SQLAlchemy. Having worked in this stack is a nice bonus, but not a requirement.<br /><br /></p><h2><strong>Your First 90 Days</strong><br /></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>First 6 Weeks - Getting Oriented</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Get up to speed on the trading and asset-optimization systems, our Python/AWS stack (FastAPI, Pydantic, SQLAlchemy, Terraform), and how market and asset data flows through the platform</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Ship your first fixes and small improvements to get familiar with the codebase, our review process, and how we operate in production</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Build relationships with product, data science, and quantitative trading colleagues to understand priorities and how decisions get made</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>By Month 3 - Building Momentum</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Take ownership of a meaningful initiative end-to-end: gather requirements, shape the approach, and roll it out iteratively</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Contribute architectural input on at least one active design decision in the codebase</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Help raise the bar on quality and observability by identifying and addressing a gap in how we reason about correctness in production<br /><br /></p></li></ul><h2><strong>You might be a good fit if:</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You've built complex, data-intensive systems and can point to projects you're proud of.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You've owned a large initiative end-to-end. From fuzzy requirements through an iterative rollout to production - not just the code, but the outcome.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You put the team first: you genuinely enjoy collaborating with people around you and you'd rather support the team than be the lone hero.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You're comfortable making architectural decisions in an evolving codebase.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You're drawn to hard, meaningful problems and want to help shape the next steps of an energy trading and asset-optimization platform.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em">Don't meet every single requirement? At trawa we are building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this role but your background doesn't tick every box, apply anyway — you may be exactly the person we are looking for.<br /><br /></p><h2><strong>Bonus points</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience at the intersection of backend and data engineering - building scalable data pipelines, modeling data to streamline it, and enabling data exploration for other functions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Exposure to energy, trading, or other real-time, high-stakes domains.<br /><br /></p></li></ul><h2><strong>Why Join Us</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">🌍 <strong>Real impact</strong> - Join one of Europe's fastest-growing B2B energy platforms at a pivotal moment. Your work will directly support systems that help industrial companies cut costs and go green.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">🚀 <strong>Early ownership</strong> - We give team members responsibility from day one. You won't be shadowing - you'll be shipping.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">🤝 <strong>Mentorship that matters</strong> - Regular leadership sessions, cross-functional exposure, and engineers who are genuinely invested in your growth.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">📚 <strong>Learning culture</strong> - Annual learning budget, dedicated development time, and a team that takes knowledge-sharing seriously.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">🌐 <strong>Inclusive by design</strong> - 15+ nationalities, family-friendly policies, and a genuine commitment to building a place where everyone can do their best work.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">🎁 <strong>Solid benefits</strong> - A competitive package covering wellbeing, learning, and team experiences.</p></li></ul><p>Find <a href="https://www.arbeitnow.com">Jobs in Germany</a> on Arbeitnow</a>