Engineering resume example

Backend Developer resume example

Backend work is mostly invisible when it goes well, which makes it easy to under-sell on a resume. This example shows how to make server-side contributions legible: name the constraint that made the work hard, then the change it produced in reliability, throughput, or cost.

Applying in the UK? Use the same evidence and structure as a backend developer CV example; adapt spelling and local terminology naturally.

This is a sample resume.

Daniel Osei

Backend Developer

Remote · daniel@email.com · linkedin.com/in/danielosei · github.com/danielosei

Professional summary

Backend developer with 5 years building APIs and data services for high-traffic products. Works primarily in Go and Python against PostgreSQL and Kafka, with a focus on reliability, observability, and migrations that do not require downtime.

Experience

Backend Developer

Cadence Logistics · Remote

2022 – Present
  • Re-modelled the shipment events schema and backfilled 240 million rows through a dual-write migration completed with no customer-facing downtime.
  • Replaced a synchronous carrier-lookup call with a Kafka consumer and cache, taking the tracking endpoint from 2.4 seconds to 310 milliseconds at p99.
  • Added structured logging and trace propagation across seven services, which reduced median incident diagnosis from roughly 50 minutes to 15.

Software Developer

Rowan Health Systems · Leeds, UK

2020 – 2022
  • Built an appointment-scheduling API in Python and PostgreSQL serving 40 clinics, including conflict resolution rules that eliminated a recurring class of double bookings.
  • Introduced database connection pooling and query indexes that lowered read replica CPU from a sustained 80% to under 35% at the same traffic.
  • Wrote the integration test suite for patient-record synchronisation, catching three data-loss defects before they reached production.

Skills

Go · Python · PostgreSQL · Redis · Kafka · REST APIs · gRPC · Database design · Docker · Kubernetes · Observability · CI/CD

Education & credentials

BSc in Software EngineeringUniversity of Leeds
Want a resume like this?

Build yours with the same structure in minutes, free to start.

Build my resume
Make it yours

How to adapt this backend developer example

Keep the structure. Replace the substance with your own scope, decisions, and results.

01

Lead with the stack the job actually uses

If the role is Go and Postgres, those belong in your first bullet and your summary. Reordering what is already true is fair; adding a language you have only read about is not.

02

Give scale a unit

Requests per second, rows, services, or clinics all work. Vague words like 'large-scale' and 'high-volume' tell a reader nothing and are easy to challenge.

03

Do not hide behind the team

If you designed the schema, say you designed it. If you implemented someone else's design well, say that instead. Both are respectable and only one of them collapses under questioning.

Keyword starting points

Terms commonly relevant to backend developer roles

Use a keyword only when it reflects your experience and the job description. Exact wording helps discovery; evidence in a bullet makes it believable.

Check keyword coverage
  • backend development
  • API design
  • REST
  • microservices
  • PostgreSQL
  • Kafka
  • Go
  • Python
  • database migration
  • distributed systems
  • observability
  • performance tuning
Questions

Backend Developer resume FAQ

Should a backend developer resume include frontend work?

Include it only when the target role touches it. A backend-focused application is stronger when the page reads as deliberate rather than as a list of everything you have ever touched. If you are genuinely full-stack and applying for full-stack roles, that is a different resume.

How do I show backend impact without customer-facing metrics?

Use the numbers your systems already produce: latency percentiles, error rates, throughput, infrastructure cost, incident counts, build times. These come from monitoring rather than the finance team, and they are usually more defensible than a revenue figure you did not own.

Are side projects worth listing for backend roles?

They help most when they demonstrate something your paid work cannot, such as a language the job requires or a system design problem you solved end to end. A project with real users and a real constraint is worth more than several tutorial rebuilds.

Build your resume

Build the resume this role deserves.

Start with guided fields, keep every fact under your control, and export an ATS-readable resume.