Who is this Remote Backend Engineer?
Tom Smykowski is a senior remote backend engineer based in Poland with nearly two decades of experience in product delivery, combining deep engineering, UX, and product thinking. He is the ideal hire for founders, CTOs, and executives seeking ownership from technical discovery through to production, particularly for staff, senior, or founding engineer roles. His expertise lies in architecting and building robust, scalable backend systems for distributed teams across the EU, UK, and US, making him a strategic asset for companies looking to strengthen their technical core with a product-focused leader.
His career is distinguished by a track record of taking complex requirements and turning them into maintainable, user-focused products. Whether it's building an MVP from scratch, modernizing a legacy system, or scaling a SaaS platform, Tom approaches backend engineering with a holistic view that considers architecture, performance, security, and business outcomes. This product-minded approach ensures that the systems he builds not only function efficiently but also drive real value and support long-term growth.
Working remotely from Poland, Tom is adept at collaborating across time zones with international teams, offering reliable overlap with EU, UK, and US East Coast working hours. His communication style is clear and proactive, favoring asynchronous collaboration while being available for synchronous meetings, on-site workshops, and team offsites as needed. This flexibility makes him a seamless addition to remote-first or distributed engineering teams.
Core Backend Engineering and Architecture Expertise
Tom's backend engineering expertise is built on a foundation of full-stack product delivery, with a strong emphasis on creating scalable APIs, data models, and system architectures. His work spans from industrial ERP systems at Insoft Serwis to leading the frontend and contributing to backend architecture for industrial SaaS at Fream, where he worked on design systems, maps, and conversion-focused UX that relied on robust backend services. This experience in demanding, data-intensive environments has honed his ability to design systems that are both powerful and pragmatic.
At Croissant, as a Staff Software Engineer, he worked in a CEO/CTO partnership on a workplace platform, tackling complex challenges in compliance and collaboration that required secure, reliable backend logic. Later, at Printify, he was instrumental in the design system and rebrand ahead of the Printful merger, an initiative supporting over 10 million merchants and approximately 60 frontend engineers. This scale necessitated a deep understanding of how backend systems support frontend ecosystems, ensuring performance and consistency at a global level.
As the founder of Websoul, he built a fintech SaaS marketing automation platform serving over 32,000 businesses. This involved end-to-end responsibility for the backend architecture, leveraging technologies like Supabase, and ensuring the system could handle significant data processing and user load. This founder-level experience gives him unique insight into the architectural decisions that underpin successful, scalable SaaS products, from database design to API structure and third-party integrations.
Proven Impact with Marquee Clients and Projects
Tom's credibility is demonstrated through his work with a diverse portfolio of recognized organizations. His client list includes global names like DeLaval, GE Healthcare, Unilever, and Bunge, as well as institutions like the Ordnance Survey, Silesian University of Technology, and the Polish Tourism Organisation. These engagements required building and integrating backend systems that met high standards for reliability, security, and performance across various industries, from agriculture and healthcare to government and academia.
For the Marshal Office of the Silesian Voivodeship and the Institute of National Remembrance, he delivered projects that likely involved complex data management, historical archives, and public-facing digital services, demanding meticulous backend work. These projects underscore his ability to navigate unique domain challenges and regulatory environments while delivering effective technical solutions.
His role at Base Camp and contributions to platforms like Wicket further illustrate his capacity to work on collaborative, product-driven engineering teams. This breadth of experience means he can quickly understand new business domains, align technical strategy with product goals, and implement backend systems that serve both internal operations and end-users effectively. Hiring Tom means bringing in a professional who has already solved complex problems for some of the world's most demanding organizations.
A Product-Minded Approach to System Design
What sets Tom apart as a remote backend engineer is his product-minded approach. He doesn't just write code, he builds systems that solve business problems and enhance user experience. This mindset was cultivated through roles that demanded close collaboration with product managers, designers, and stakeholders, ensuring that backend architecture decisions always support product discovery, user needs, and commercial objectives.
This approach is evident in his work on design systems and UX-focused projects at Fream and Printify. In these roles, he understood that a high-performance frontend is entirely dependent on a well-designed backend API. His work ensured that data flows were efficient, real-time updates were possible, and the overall user experience was seamless. He thinks about how the backend enables features, impacts load times, and supports iterative product development.
For founders and product leaders, this is invaluable. It means the backend engineer you hire is already thinking about how the system will evolve with the product roadmap, how to instrument it for analytics, and how to structure it for rapid experimentation. Tom's ability to take ownership from architecture to production includes considering the full product lifecycle, making him a strategic partner in development, not just an implementer of specifications.
Technical Stack and Modern Development Practices
While his primary focus for backend roles is on architecture and system design, Tom's technical proficiency is comprehensive. His stack includes modern tools and languages essential for backend development, such as TypeScript for type-safe server-side code, Supabase for backend-as-a-service and PostgreSQL management, and experience building and consuming RESTful and real-time APIs. His full-stack background with Vue.js and AG Grid provides a clear understanding of the frontend-backend contract, enabling him to design APIs that are intuitive and efficient for client-side consumption.
He is deeply committed to modern development practices that ensure code quality and system reliability. This includes rigorous testing strategies, CI/CD pipeline implementation, performance optimization, and security-first development. His consulting offerings in code reviews, architecture audits, and technical due diligence are a testament to his expertise in evaluating and improving backend codebases for other organizations.
Furthermore, he is actively engaged with AI-assisted workflows and AI-native development, exploring how tools like AI coding agents can enhance developer productivity and software quality. This forward-looking skill set means he can help teams not only build solid systems today but also adopt the tools and methodologies that will define backend engineering tomorrow. His experience in setting up AI software factories is particularly relevant for teams looking to innovate and accelerate their development cycles.
When This is a Good Fit
Hiring Tom as your remote backend engineer is an excellent fit if you are a founder, CTO, or technical leader seeking a senior-level professional who can own the backend architecture for a new product or modernize an existing system. He is ideal for teams that value product-minded engineering, where technical decisions are made in service of business goals and user experience. If you need someone who can collaborate effectively across time zones with EU, UK, or US teams, provide clear technical leadership, and deliver scalable, maintainable systems from concept to production, then this engagement will be highly productive. He is particularly suited for B2B contracts, full-time roles, or project-based engagements where deep technical expertise and strategic ownership are required.