Senior Backend Engineer - Lodging and Cars

Backend Engineer · Senior · Full Time · Remote

Spain - Remote · RemoteUSD 150k – 220k1mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Join Hopper's Lodging and Cars Supply team as a Senior Backend Engineer to architect and scale mission-critical microservices handling billions in annual travel transactions. You'll own end-to-end technical integrations with global hotel and car partners, develop high-throughput Scala/JVM services, and optimize real-time booking fulfillment systems serving hundreds of millions of travelers globally. This is an ideal opportunity for a self-directed system architect with strong microservices expertise, distributed systems knowledge, and proven ability to execute complex technical integrations in high-growth travel fintech environments.

Responsibilities

  • Execute End-to-End Partner Integrations: Lead technical integrations with external lodging, cars, and GDS (Global Distribution System) partners by navigating complex communication protocols, understanding diverse data schemas, and ensuring seamless API connectivity. Manage integration timelines and technical dependencies while maintaining documentation and integration standards across the platform.
  • Develop High-Throughput Scala Services: Write clean, performant, and maintainable code in Scala or other JVM languages (Java, Kotlin) to build and evolve mission-critical booking services. Implement microservices that handle high-volume, real-time transactions while adhering to strict performance and reliability standards that power the platform's booking ecosystem.
  • Troubleshoot Distributed System Infrastructure: Explore and analyze complex codebases to identify root causes of production issues in distributed environments. Deep-dive into infrastructure problems, leverage monitoring systems, and implement solutions that maintain system resilience and uptime for millions of concurrent users.
  • Collaborate on Technical Requirements: Partner with Product Managers and Operations teams to translate business requirements into technical specifications, provide accurate effort estimates, and establish delivery timelines. Communicate architectural trade-offs and technical constraints to inform product strategy and customer experience decisions.
  • Own Complete Feature Development Lifecycle: Take full ownership from initial technical design through implementation, comprehensive testing, and production deployment. Manage feature releases, monitor performance metrics, and iterate based on real-world usage patterns and system behavior.
  • Design Resilient Low-Latency Services: Architect and implement highly available systems optimized for minimal latency and maximum throughput under peak load conditions. Design for graceful degradation, implement circuit breakers, caching strategies, and rate limiting to ensure exceptional booking experience during traffic spikes.
  • Conduct Code Reviews and System Optimization: Participate in thorough code reviews to maintain engineering standards and quality. Identify optimization opportunities across scalability, performance, and system health. Mentor junior engineers and establish best practices for distributed systems development.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Scala and JVM Languages

    Strong proficiency in Scala with demonstrated expertise building scalable, high-throughput services. Equally comfortable with Java or Kotlin for backend development. Deep understanding of JVM performance characteristics, garbage collection tuning, and memory management.

  • Microservices Architecture

    Proven track record of designing, implementing, testing, and deploying features within microservices architecture. Experience with service decomposition, API design patterns, and maintaining domain boundaries across distributed teams.

  • Distributed Systems and Service Communication

    Practical experience with modern service communication methods including gRPC for high-performance RPC, Pub/Sub messaging patterns for event-driven architectures, and REST API design. Understanding of eventual consistency, distributed transactions, and failure modes.

  • Production Troubleshooting and Debugging

    Demonstrated ability to rapidly onboard on existing codebases, explore complex infrastructure, and execute debugging in production distributed systems. Experience with logging frameworks, distributed tracing, and performance profiling tools.

  • System Design and Scalability

    Experience designing systems that handle high-volume transactions with requirements for low latency and high reliability. Knowledge of database optimization, caching strategies, connection pooling, and system monitoring for operational excellence.

Education

  • Computer Science or Related Degree

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience demonstrating strong computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, and system design is equally valued.

Experience

  • Senior-Level Backend Development

    Minimum 7-10 years of professional backend development experience with at least 3+ years in senior-level roles. Demonstrated progression from individual contributor to independent problem solver who can navigate ambiguous technical requirements and execute with minimal supervision.

  • Complex Integration Projects

    Proven experience leading technical integrations with external partners, APIs, and third-party services. Track record of managing integration projects with multiple stakeholders, handling protocol incompatibilities, and delivering working solutions on ambitious timelines.

  • High-Scale Systems

    Professional experience with systems handling millions of transactions, significant data volume, or concurrent users. Familiarity with scaling challenges including database optimization, service load balancing, and infrastructure considerations.

  • Travel Tech or E-Commerce

    Professional experience in travel technology, fintech, or e-commerce platforms is a significant advantage. Understanding of booking systems, payment processing, real-time pricing, or inventory management demonstrates domain-specific expertise.

Skills

Required

  • Scala Programming

    Advanced proficiency in Scala with strong understanding of functional programming paradigms, immutability, and type systems. Experience with Scala libraries and frameworks used in microservices development.

  • Microservices Architecture

    Deep expertise in designing and maintaining microservices, including service boundaries, inter-service communication patterns, and distributed system trade-offs.

  • gRPC and REST API Design

    Strong experience implementing both gRPC services for high-performance communication and RESTful APIs. Understanding of protocol trade-offs, serialization formats (Protocol Buffers, JSON), and versioning strategies.

  • Distributed Systems Fundamentals

    Solid grasp of distributed systems concepts including consensus algorithms, eventual consistency, distributed transactions, failure modes, and system resilience patterns.

  • System Debugging and Troubleshooting

    Proficiency in identifying and resolving production issues using distributed tracing, log analysis, and performance profiling. Experience with monitoring tools and observability platforms.

  • Software Development Lifecycle

    Experience with end-to-end development including design, implementation, testing (unit, integration, and system tests), code review participation, and production deployment with monitoring.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

    Excellent communication skills with ability to translate between technical and business contexts. Demonstrated success working with Product, Operations, and other engineering teams in collaborative environments.

Preferred

  • Java or Kotlin Backend Development

    Nice to have

    Complementary experience with Java or Kotlin for JVM platform development. Familiarity with common JVM frameworks and understanding of platform-specific optimization techniques.

  • Pub/Sub Messaging Systems

    Nice to have

    Hands-on experience with event-driven architecture using message brokers like Kafka, RabbitMQ, or cloud-native Pub/Sub systems. Understanding of event sourcing and stream processing patterns.

  • Database Design and Optimization

    Nice to have

    Experience with relational and NoSQL database optimization, query performance tuning, indexing strategies, and understanding of different data storage paradigms for specific use cases.

  • Travel Tech or Booking Systems

    Nice to have

    Background in travel technology, online marketplaces, or booking platforms. Experience with hotel distribution, car rental systems, or flight booking integrations demonstrates valuable domain knowledge.

  • Cloud Infrastructure (GCP/AWS)

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with cloud deployment platforms and managed services. Experience with containerization, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud-native development practices.

  • Fintech Products

    Nice to have

    Experience with payment processing, financial products, or fintech systems including subscription management, fraud detection, or compliance requirements.

  • Performance Optimization

    Nice to have

    Track record of identifying and implementing performance optimizations resulting in measurable improvements to latency, throughput, or resource utilization.

Tech stack

Languages

ScalaJavaKotlin

Frameworks

Play FrameworkAkkagRPC

Databases

PostgreSQLRedisNoSQL Databases

Tools

Docker and KubernetesGit and Code Review ToolsMonitoring and Observability PlatformsCI/CD PipelinesLogging Frameworks

Other

Protocol BuffersEvent-Driven ArchitectureAPI Integration and Partner ManagementDistributed System Design Patterns

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 150,000 – 220,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Pre-IPO Equity Package

    Significant equity upside as part of a well-funded startup with ambitious growth trajectory. Competitive equity packages aligned with company valuation of over 750 million USD in private capital raised.

  • Comprehensive Medical and Dental Coverage

    Hopper covers 100% of employee premiums for private medical and dental insurance, ensuring comprehensive healthcare coverage without employee expense.

  • Life and Accident Insurance

    Private life and accident coverage provided by Hopper, protecting you and your family with financial security beyond standard workplace requirements.

  • Generous Parental Leave

    Above-industry-standard parental leave policy recognizing work-life balance importance. Significantly more generous than typical tech industry standards for supporting growing families.

  • Flexible Work Arrangements

    Access to co-working spaces on-demand through FlexDesk partnership combined with work-from-home stipend. Full remote-first flexibility to optimize your work environment and productivity.

  • Unlimited Paid Time Off

    Unlimited PTO policy enabling work-life balance and allowing you to take time off as needed for personal well-being, family, and travel opportunities.

  • Wellness and Home Office Support

    Monthly cash allowances for gym memberships, fitness pursuits, and home office expenses. Supports physical health and creates comfortable remote working infrastructure.

  • Carrot Cash Travel Stipend

    Exclusive travel stipend for employees enabling personal travel experiences and exploring travel destinations. Aligns with Hopper's mission of helping people travel better.

  • Entrepreneurial Culture and Impact

    Dynamic startup environment where calculated risk-taking, innovation, and pushing boundaries are core values. Small, high-performing teams where individual contributions directly impact company trajectory.

  • Open Leadership and Communication

    Transparent, open communication culture with direct access to management and company leadership. Flat organizational structure enabling meaningful input on strategic decisions and company direction.

Full posting

Original listing.

About the Role

Join the Lodging and Cars Supply team at the heart of our lodging and cars business unit, where you will be instrumental in scaling a global hotel and cars ecosystem that handles high-volume, real-time transactions.

As a senior-level individual contributor, you will navigate a complex microservices environment to deliver reliable booking fulfillment, integrate new lodging and cars partners into our core stack, and optimize system monitoring. This role is designed for a self-directed engineer who excels at system exploration and immediate technical execution within an established, high-growth travel environment.

What would your day-to-day look like

  • Execute end-to-end technical integrations with external lodgings, cars and GDS partners while navigating complex communication protocols and distributed data schemas.

  • Write clean, performant code in Scala or other JVM languages to maintain, evolve, and uphold rigorous engineering standards for mission-critical lodging services.

  • Explore and troubleshoot existing complex codebases to deep-dive into infrastructure and resolve production issues in a distributed system environment.

  • Partner with Product Managers and Operations to decompose business requirements into technical tasks and estimate delivery timelines.

  • Take full ownership of the development lifecycle for new product features, from initial technical implementation and testing to production deployment.

  • Contribute to the design of highly resilient, low-latency services to ensure a seamless booking experience for customers under high load.

  • Participate in thorough code reviews and identify opportunities to optimize scalability, performance, and system health.

An ideal candidate has

  • Strong proficiency in Scala or other JVM languages, such as Java or Kotlin, with a focus on building scalable, high-throughput services.

  • A proven track record of owning the technical implementation, testing, and deployment of features within a microservices architecture.

  • Practical experience with distributed systems and service communication methods including gRPC, Pub/Sub, and REST.

  • The ability to onboard quickly and handle technical ambiguity by independently exploring and executing technical plans within existing infrastructure.

  • Excellent communication skills and a "bias for action" to effectively collaborate with cross-functional squads in a remote-first environment.

  • A professional curiosity for the travel tech industry and a commercial mindset focused on delivering reliable booking fulfillment.

 

Perks and benefits of working with us:

  • Well-funded and proven startup with large ambitions, competitive salary, upsides of pre-IPO equity packages.

  • Hopper covers the cost of employee premiums for private medical and dental coverage.

  • Hopper also offers private life and accident coverage.

  • Please ask us about our very generous parental leave, much above industry standards!.

  • Access to co-working space on demand through FlexDesk AND Work-from-home stipend.

  • Unlimited PTO.

  • Hopper offers a monthly cash allowances for gym memberships and to cover home

  • office expenses for a comfortable remote working experience.

  • Carrot Cash travel stipend.

  • Entrepreneurial culture where pushing limits and taking risks is everyday business.

  • Open communication with management and company leadership

  • Small, dynamic teams = massive impact.

     

More about Hopper

At Hopper, we are on a mission to become the leading travel platform globally – powering Hopper’s mobile app, website and our B2B business, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions). By leveraging massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper combines its world-class travel agency offering with proprietary fintech products to bring transparency, flexibility and savings to travelers globally. We have developed several unique fintech solutions that address everything from pricing volatility to trip disruptions – helping people travel better and save more on their trips.

The Hopper platform serves hundreds of millions of travelers globally and continues to capture market share around the world. he Hopper app has been downloaded over 120 million times and has become largely popular among younger travelers – with 70% of its users being Gen Z and millennials.

While everyone knows us as the Gen Z and Millennial travel app, Hopper has evolved to become much more than that. In recent years, we’ve grown into a travel fintech provider, commerce platform, and global travel agency that powers some of the world’s largest brands.

Through HTS, our B2B division, the company supercharges its partners’ direct channels by integrating our fintech products on their sites or powering end-to-end travel portals. Today, our partners include leading travel brands like Capital One, Nubank, Air Canada, and many more.

Here are just a few stats that demonstrate the company’s recent growth:

Billions of dollars worth of travel and travel fintech are sold through Hopper and HTS’ channels every year.

Our fintech products – including Cancel for Any Reason and Flight Disruption Assistance – have exceptionally strong CSAT because the terms are always clear, and customers receive instant, no-questions-asked resolutions.

Almost 30% of our app customers purchase at least one fintech product when making a booking; and consumers are 1.6x more likely to repurchase if they add fintech to their booking vs if they booked just travel.

Given the success of its fintech products, Hopper launched a B2B initiative, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions), which represents more than 75% of the business.

Through HTS, any travel provider (airlines, hotels, banks, travel agencies, etc.) can integrate and seamlessly distribute Hopper’s fintech or travel inventory on their direct channels. As its first HTS partnership, the company partnered with Capital One to co-develop Capital One Travel, a new travel portal designed specifically for cardholders. Other HTS partners include Air Canada, Uber, CommBank, Nubank, Flair Airlines and many more.

Hopper has been named the #1 most innovative company in travel by Fast Company Hopper has been downloaded over 120 million times and continues to have millions of new installs each month. Hopper is now the #3 largest online travel agencies in North America and 70% of our app customers are Gen-Z and millennials travelers.

Hopper has raised over $750 million USD of private capital and is backed by some of the largest institutional investors and banks in the world. HTS is primed to continue its growth as the leading travel ecommerce provider in a $1 trillion online shopping category. The Hopper app and website will also continue to be the preferred travel provider for Gen Z and Millennials.

Come take off with us!

This role utilizes automated decision-making systems to assess candidate suitability. Under local regulations, you have the right to understand the principal factors used in this assessment, request a correction of your data, or request a human review of any automated decision. To exercise these rights, please contact [email protected].

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