Hopper

Senior Backend Engineer - Lodging and Cars

Hopper2 days ago
Location

United Kingdom - Remote

Workplace

Remote

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 160,000 – 220,000

Level

Senior

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jul 1, 2026

Full TimeRemoteSenior

The role

Summary

Join Hopper's Lodging and Cars Supply team as a Senior Backend Engineer, where you'll architect and scale mission-critical microservices handling billions of dollars in global hotel and car rental transactions. This role offers hands-on technical leadership in a complex distributed systems environment, requiring expertise in Scala/JVM languages and microservices integration to build resilient, high-throughput services that power Hopper's platform serving hundreds of millions of travelers. You'll own complete development lifecycles while collaborating across cross-functional teams to deliver reliable booking fulfillment and integrate new lodging and car rental partners into Hopper's innovative travel fintech ecosystem.

What you'll do

End-to-End Technical Integrations: Execute comprehensive technical integrations with external lodging, car rental, and Global Distribution System (GDS) partners, navigating complex communication protocols, distributed data schemas, and ensuring seamless data flow across heterogeneous systems in a high-transaction environment.
Scalable Backend Development: Write clean, performant, and maintainable code in Scala or other JVM languages (Java, Kotlin) to build, maintain, and evolve mission-critical lodging and car rental services that uphold rigorous engineering standards and support high-volume transaction processing.
Distributed Systems Troubleshooting: Explore and troubleshoot complex, existing codebases to diagnose and resolve production issues within a distributed microservices environment, demonstrating strong system thinking and infrastructure comprehension to minimize downtime and maintain service reliability.
Requirements Decomposition and Planning: Collaborate with Product Managers and Operations teams to analyze business requirements, decompose them into granular technical tasks, estimate delivery timelines, and communicate technical constraints and opportunities to non-technical stakeholders.
Full Development Lifecycle Ownership: Take complete ownership of feature development from technical implementation through comprehensive testing, code review, and production deployment, ensuring quality assurance and smooth rollouts of new capabilities to the global platform.
High-Performance Service Architecture: Contribute to the design of resilient, low-latency microservices that maintain optimal performance under high load, implementing monitoring, caching strategies, and optimization techniques to ensure seamless user experiences during peak transaction volumes.
Code Quality and Performance Review: Participate in thorough code reviews with peers, identify optimization opportunities for system scalability and performance, mentor junior engineers on best practices, and drive continuous improvements across the Lodging and Cars technical stack.

What we look for

Technical

Scala and JVM Languages ProficiencyStrong, production-level expertise in Scala with ability to write high-performance, maintainable code; complementary proficiency in Java or Kotlin for interoperability and architectural decisions within JVM ecosystems.
Microservices Architecture ExperienceProven track record of designing, implementing, testing, and deploying features across distributed microservices architectures, understanding service boundaries, API contracts, and inter-service communication patterns at scale.
Distributed Systems FundamentalsPractical experience with distributed systems concepts including consistency models, eventual consistency, service communication protocols (gRPC, REST), asynchronous messaging (Pub/Sub), and handling of network failures and latency.
API Integration and Protocol ExpertiseHands-on experience integrating with external APIs and services, implementing REST endpoints, gRPC services, and Pub/Sub message-based communication patterns; familiarity with hotel and car rental booking protocols is advantageous.
Database and Data ManagementStrong understanding of relational and NoSQL databases, data modeling for high-throughput systems, query optimization, and transaction management for booking and financial data consistency.
Production Systems DebuggingAdvanced debugging and troubleshooting capabilities in production environments, proficiency with logging, monitoring, and observability tools to diagnose and resolve complex issues in distributed systems under time pressure.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related FieldFormal education in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline; demonstrates foundational knowledge in algorithms, data structures, and systems design principles.
Continuing Technical EducationCommitment to staying current with distributed systems patterns, microservices best practices, and emerging backend technologies through formal coursework, certifications, or self-directed learning.

Experience

5+ Years Backend Engineering ExperienceMinimum five years of professional backend software engineering experience, with at least three years focused on building or maintaining production microservices at scale in high-transaction environments.
Senior-Level Technical ExecutionDemonstrated ability to independently execute complex technical initiatives end-to-end, require minimal guidance, and make sound architectural decisions with business impact awareness.
Cross-Functional CollaborationSuccessful experience working across product, operations, and data teams in fast-paced environments, translating business needs into technical requirements and communicating complex technical concepts to non-engineers.
Travel or Commerce Technology Background (Preferred)Demonstrated interest or experience in travel technology, e-commerce platforms, booking systems, or fintech; understanding of travel industry dynamics, OTA architecture, or GDS systems is advantageous but not required.

Skills

Required skills

Scala ProgrammingExpert-level Scala development with deep knowledge of functional programming paradigms, type systems, and JVM internals to build scalable, maintainable microservices.
Microservices Architecture DesignProficiency in designing and implementing microservices patterns including service decomposition, API design, asynchronous communication, and managing distributed data consistency.
gRPC and REST API DevelopmentHands-on experience building and integrating gRPC and REST services, including protocol buffer design, service definition, and efficient request-response handling at scale.
Distributed Systems ConceptsDeep understanding of consistency models, CAP theorem, eventual consistency, distributed transactions, and failure handling in networked systems.
Pub/Sub Messaging SystemsPractical experience with publish-subscribe architectures and message brokers for asynchronous event-driven communication in microservices environments.
SQL and Database DesignStrong SQL skills and database design expertise for transactional systems, including normalization, indexing strategies, and query optimization for booking and inventory systems.
System Troubleshooting and DebuggingAdvanced ability to diagnose production issues through log analysis, monitoring dashboards, profiling tools, and distributed tracing in complex microservices environments.
Code Quality and TestingCommitment to writing testable, maintainable code with strong unit testing, integration testing, and test automation practices; familiarity with CI/CD pipelines.

Nice to have

Java and KotlinComplementary proficiency in Java or Kotlin to support ecosystem compatibility, code maintenance, and architectural flexibility within JVM-based technology stacks.
GDS Integration ExperiencePrior experience integrating with Global Distribution Systems (GDS) protocols, hotel booking APIs, or car rental systems demonstrates domain familiarity with travel commerce.
Observability and MonitoringHands-on experience with observability platforms (Datadog, New Relic, Prometheus), distributed tracing (Jaeger, Zipkin), and building comprehensive monitoring solutions for production systems.
Container OrchestrationWorking knowledge of Docker containerization and Kubernetes orchestration for deploying and managing microservices in production cloud environments.
Cloud Platform ProficiencyExperience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) for deploying, scaling, and managing backend services at enterprise scale.
Travel or FinTech Industry KnowledgeBackground in travel technology, online travel agencies (OTAs), financial services, or other high-transaction commerce platforms demonstrates industry context and business acumen.
Performance OptimizationTrack record of identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks, optimizing query execution, implementing caching strategies, and managing high-throughput systems.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 160,000 – 220,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Comprehensive Health Insurance

100% premium coverage for employees through Vitality Health group insurance plan, including medical, dental, and vision benefits with no out-of-pocket costs for employee coverage.

Pre-IPO Equity Package

Competitive stock options and equity upside participation as part of a well-funded startup with significant growth potential and pre-IPO valuation opportunity.

Retirement Planning

Automatic pension contributions through Smart Pension upon hire, supporting long-term financial security and retirement savings with employer-matched contributions.

Above-Market Parental Leave

Exceptionally generous parental leave policy significantly exceeding industry standards, supporting work-life balance for employees with caregiving responsibilities.

Flexible Workspace Options

On-demand access to professional co-working spaces through FlexDesk partnership combined with work-from-home stipends to support remote-first working arrangements.

Travel Benefits Stipend

Carrot Cash travel stipend providing financial support for personal travel, aligned with Hopper's mission to empower travelers and company culture.

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Unlimited PTO policy enabling engineers to manage personal well-being, burnout prevention, and flexible scheduling in a trust-based work environment.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Dynamic startup environment that values risk-taking, innovation, and pushing technical boundaries as everyday business practice, fostering personal growth and impact.

Executive Communication Access

Open, direct communication channels with management and company leadership, enabling transparent decision-making and direct input into strategic technical direction.

High-Impact Team Structure

Small, dynamic, cross-functional teams enabling individual engineers to see immediate impact of their contributions at scale across Hopper's global platform.

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Hopper

Hopper

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Hopper is a travel booking app and online marketplace, leveraging data-driven technology to predict prices and help users book hotels, flights, and car rentals at the best rates.

Montreal, QC, CanadaFounded 2006hopper.com

Tech Stack

Languages
ScalaJavaKotlin
Frameworks
gRPCREST APIsPlay Framework (Scala)Akka (Scala)
Databases
PostgreSQLMySQLNoSQL DatabasesRedis
Tools
Git and Version ControlCI/CD PipelinesDockerKubernetesMonitoring and Observability ToolsDistributed Tracing
Other
Pub/Sub MessagingAPI Integration ProtocolsDatabase Migration ToolsLoad Testing
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