Lead Python Engineer, Data Infrastructure

About AscentAI

AscentAI builds intelligent software to help risk and compliance teams at financial institutions keep pace with ever-evolving global regulation. Our platform transforms complex regulatory information into clear, actionable insights enabling teams to reduce risk, increase efficiency, and stay ahead of change.

We’re a small, mission-driven company pushing the boundaries of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human-in-the-loop systems to solve some of the hardest problems in regulatory compliance.

The Role

We're looking for a Python Engineer to join our growing team. In this role, you'll be responsible for the design and implementation of robust, large-scale web scraping platforms that power AscentAI's data infrastructure. You'll collaborate closely with other engineers and analysts to define data requirements, architect efficient pipelines, and deliver reliable, high-quality data at scale.

You'll also serve as the technical expert on scraping strategy, anti-bot countermeasures, and data extraction best practices for stakeholders across engineering, data science, and product. This is a high-impact role with real ownership and visibility, offering the opportunity to influence both our technical architecture and business outcomes.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the design and implementation of robust, efficient, and large-scale web scraping platforms using Python and associated frameworks.
• Mentor junior developers, and provide technical guidance. Conduct code reviews to ensure the delivery of high-quality, maintainable code.
• Develop sophisticated strategies to handle and bypass advanced anti-bot countermeasures like CAPTCHAs, Cloudflare, and IP blocking, while ensuring all practices adhere to legal and ethical guidelines and website terms of service.
• Collaborate with data analysts and data engineers to define data requirements and ensure seamless integration of scraped data into databases.
• Optimize scrapers for speed, performance, and stability; set up real-time monitoring and alerting systems to quickly detect and resolve failures or site changes.
• Create clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to ensure alignment and manage expectations.

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in Python development, with prior experience in a leadership or senior role.
• Strong programming skills and deep knowledge of Python data structures and libraries.
• Solid understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, HTTP protocols, cookies, headers, and DOM manipulation.
• Experience with data cleaning, processing, and storage in various database systems like PostgreSQL.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and data accuracy.
• Effective communication skills for collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Preferred

• Experience with web scraping and data extraction.
• Experience using frameworks and libraries such as Scrapy, Crawlee, Playwright, etc.
• Familiarity with AWS and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).

Why Join Us?

• A small, collaborative, and fast-moving team where your contributions will have an outsized impact.
• The chance to work on meaningful problems in regulatory technology.
• Remote-first culture with flexibility and autonomy.
• Recognition in the regtech space for our innovation and customer value.