Senior Backend Engineer (Remote in EMEA)

Role: Senior Backend Engineer to design and implement scalable microservices for millions of users. Must be proficient in Kotlin and AWS-native technologies, with strong experience in distributed systems and secure-by-default design. Mentorship and leadership within the team are expected.

Geo: Fully Remote — must have 8 hours of overlap with London working hours
Include: Latvia,Lithuania,North Macedonia,Poland,Romania,Serbia,Slovakia,Slovenia,Albania,Turkey,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia (Hrvatska),Czech Republic,Egypt,Estonia

Worker Type: Contractor

YoE: Extensive experience in backend development with JVM frameworks (Kotlin preferred) and cloud-native systems on AWS.

Total number of positions: 1

Start Date: As soon as client interviews conclude.

Engagement Length: Undefined (long-term role, not a short project)

Rate Range: Up to $57/hr.

Special reqs: No.

Skills:

• Extensive experience building scalable backend systems in AWS (Fargate, ALB, DynamoDB, Cloudflare, OAuth).
• Proficient in Kotlin (Ktor) or similar JVM frameworks for API and microservice development.
• Strong grasp of distributed systems, data modeling, and API design (REST, gRPC, event-driven).
• Skilled in observability using OpenTelemetry, CloudWatch, and Grafana.
• Familiar with Infrastructure as Code tools like CDK or Terraform.
• Experienced with automated testing (unit, integration, load) and CI/CD best practices.
• Strong communicator and collaborator within cross-functional teams.
• Passion for secure-by-default design and data governance compliance.
• Comfortable acting as an educator and mentor within the team.

About the Role
Join a fast-paced engineering team building a greenfield backend service with cloud-native tools to support millions of users. In this role, you’ll lead the architecture, development, and operationalization of scalable microservices, contributing directly to reliability, security, and performance. You’ll thrive in an autonomous environment, take ownership of end-to-end challenges, and mentor other engineers as the team grows.
This is a fully remote position. Candidates must have at least 8 hours of overlap with London working hours.

Required Skills

• Extensive experience building scalable backend systems in AWS (Fargate, ALB, DynamoDB, Cloudflare, OAuth).
• Proficient in Kotlin (Ktor) or similar JVM frameworks for API and microservice development.
• Strong grasp of distributed systems, data modeling, and API design (REST, gRPC, event-driven).
• Skilled in observability using OpenTelemetry, CloudWatch, and Grafana.
• Familiar with Infrastructure as Code tools like CDK or Terraform.
• Experienced with automated testing (unit, integration, load) and CI/CD best practices
• Strong communication and collaboration skills in cross-functional teams.
• Passion for secure-by-default design and data governance compliance.
• Comfortable acting as an educator and mentor within the team.

Bonus Skill

• Knowledge of GCP with willingness to upskill in AWS.
• Experience in progressive delivery practices and feature flagging.
• Familiarity with building platforms at a global scale.
• Experience contributing to engineering culture and continuous improvement initiatives.