Junior Fastapi Developer Jobs in Jacksonville, FL

Director of Technology 

MCM Retail Group  |  Jacksonville, FL | Hybrid

Our brands: FirearmLand.com  ·  CashForArms.com 

Base $120,000 – $150,000  ·  Annual performance bonus  ·  Full-time 

About Us 

MCM Retail Group is a privately held, profitable company headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, and the parent of two of the strongest names in the online firearms marketplace: FirearmLand.com — the largest seller on GunBroker, the world’s biggest online firearms marketplace — and CashForArms.com, the trusted way for firearm owners nationwide to sell and consign. We’ve built our reputation on trust: giving firearm owners a fair, transparent, and genuinely better way to buy, sell, and consign, backed by thousands of customers nationwide and over 10,000 positive reviews. 

Technology is the lifeblood of our business. We don’t run on off-the-shelf software — we build our own, including the proprietary acquisition and workflow platform that powers how we price, buy, and sell every day. We are scaling fast, and the systems behind that growth need a leader. You’d be joining at a genuine inflection point, with the chance to shape our technology function as the company steps into its next phase. 

The Opportunity 

This is not a “monitor the IT helpdesk” role. As Director of Technology, you’ll own the entire technology function: architecture, security, delivery, and the team behind it. You’ll report directly to the COO, have a real seat in how the business grows, and the freedom to shape our infrastructure at its core rather than maintain someone else’s decisions. 

One day you’re reviewing a database schema change, the next you’re leading a security audit, the next you’re mentoring a junior engineer through a tough bug. We need someone who moves fluidly between these — going deep where it counts while staying versatile enough to jump in wherever the business needs. If you like moving fast and want to see your fingerprints on everything from the systems our customers touch to the ones keeping the business running, this is the seat for you. 

What Success Looks Like in Year One 

• A database architecture with a clear long-term roadmap — schema decisions made deliberately, with technical debt visibly shrinking rather than compounding. 
• A materially stronger security posture, with security built into design decisions and validated by audit rather than assumed. 
• Predictable delivery: large initiatives broken into realistic milestones, with timelines and risks the executive team can trust. 
• An engineering team that is growing in capability, held accountable, and using AI fluently to move faster than its headcount suggests. 

What You’ll Own 

• Database architecture, end to end: Design and evolve schemas with a long-term view, ensuring structural decisions won’t create costly technical debt down the line. 
• Project delivery: Break large initiatives into realistic milestones, set clear priorities, manage dependencies, and communicate timelines and risks transparently to the team and stakeholders. 
• Security as a first-class concern: Build security into every design decision from the start, not as an afterthought. 
• Technical judgment: Evaluate requests and features critically — research trade-offs and design robust, future-proof solutions rather than quick patches. 
• Incident response and availability: Lead calmly during outages, drive blameless post-mortems, and be present and accountable for critical off-hours or overnight releases when needed. 
• AI adoption across the team: Use AI tools daily to accelerate real work — writing and reviewing code, research, documentation, planning — and champion smart adoption across the team while evaluating AI output critically rather than accepting it blindly. 
• The team itself: Lead, mentor, and grow our engineers — delegate effectively, hold people accountable, and invest in their development while fostering a strong working environment. 

What We’re Looking For 

• 5+ years in a technical leadership role, with proven, hands-on experience designing and architecting database schemas — this is the single most important qualification for the role. 
• A strong software engineering background: you read code, understand system architecture, and engage credibly with engineers on real technical problems rather than managing from a distance. 
• A track record of successful project delivery — breaking down large initiatives into realistic milestones, managing dependencies, and communicating timelines and risks to both technical and non-technical audiences. 
• A demonstrated security-first approach to system design, with experience building security into architecture decisions rather than addressing it after the fact. 
• Experience leading and developing a team of engineers — delegation, mentorship, and accountability — ideally in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. 
• Experience with most of our stack: Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Next.js, TypeScript, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, and the LangChain ecosystem. 
• Comfort working in the firearms industry. Firearms are central to everything we do, and our technology exists to serve that business. 

Why You’ll Want to Work Here 

We’re a place where you can build something real, move fast, and actually see the results of your work rather than watch them disappear into a larger machine. You’ll work directly with the COO, senior leadership, and ownership — decisions here happen in hours, not weeks. Our team is passionate, enthusiastic, and highly collaborative because we’re all pulling in the same direction: giving our customers the absolute best experience possible and finding ways to make it better every single day. 

We’d love to have you in our Jacksonville office, engaged with the team and part of the day-to-day doing what matters most: making an impact. 

Compensation & Benefits 

• Base salary of $120,000 – $150,000 
• Annual performance bonus  
• Health, dental, and vision insurance 
• 401(k) with company match 
• Paid time off 
• 10% employee discount on purchases 
• Located in Jacksonville, FL (near UNF) 

MCM Retail Group is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Employment is contingent on a background check in accordance with applicable law.