Hopper

Senior Backend Engineer - Lodging and Cars

Hopper2 days ago
Location

Uruguay - Remote

Workplace

Remote

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 130,000 – 180,000

Level

Senior

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jul 1, 2026

Full TimeRemoteSenior

The role

Summary

Senior Backend Engineer at Hopper's Lodging and Cars Supply team, responsible for scaling a global high-throughput microservices ecosystem handling real-time hotel and rental car transactions. This role requires expertise in Scala/JVM languages, distributed systems architecture, and third-party API integration to deliver reliable booking fulfillment for hundreds of millions of travelers. The ideal candidate will navigate complex technical challenges independently, optimize system performance under high load, and collaborate cross-functionally in a remote-first environment.

What you'll do

End-to-End Technical Integration: Execute comprehensive technical integrations with external lodging, cars, and Global Distribution System (GDS) partners while managing complex communication protocols, data schema transformations, and real-time synchronization across distributed systems.
Mission-Critical Service Development: Write clean, performant, and maintainable code in Scala or other JVM languages to develop, maintain, and evolve mission-critical lodging and cars services that handle high-volume transactions while maintaining rigorous engineering standards and system reliability.
Distributed Systems Troubleshooting: Investigate and troubleshoot complex codebases within distributed microservices environments to identify root causes of production issues, implement diagnostic tools, and resolve infrastructure challenges that impact system performance and availability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product Managers and Operations teams to decompose business requirements into technical specifications, estimate delivery timelines, validate assumptions, and ensure technical solutions align with business objectives and user needs.
Feature Ownership and Deployment: Take full ownership of the complete development lifecycle for new features including technical design, implementation, comprehensive testing, performance validation, and production deployment with monitoring and rollback capabilities.
High-Performance Service Architecture: Contribute to the design and implementation of highly resilient, low-latency services that handle peak booking loads, maintain sub-second response times, and ensure seamless user experiences during traffic spikes and system stress conditions.
Code Review and Performance Optimization: Participate in thorough code reviews to identify optimization opportunities, enhance system scalability, improve performance characteristics, and maintain code quality standards while mentoring junior engineers on best practices.

What we look for

Technical

Scala or JVM Languages ProficiencyAdvanced expertise in Scala, Java, or Kotlin with demonstrated ability to build scalable, high-throughput services, write performant code, and leverage JVM ecosystem tools and libraries effectively.
Microservices ArchitectureProven track record of designing, implementing, testing, and deploying features within production microservices architectures, managing service boundaries, and handling distributed transaction patterns.
Distributed Systems and Communication ProtocolsPractical experience with distributed systems concepts including gRPC for efficient inter-service communication, Pub/Sub messaging systems for event-driven architectures, and REST APIs for synchronous communication patterns.
Production Systems and InfrastructureAbility to independently explore existing infrastructure, understand complex system dependencies, configure monitoring and observability solutions, and execute technical plans with minimal guidance.
System Integration and API DevelopmentExperience integrating with third-party APIs, handling various data formats and protocols, managing error handling and retry logic, and maintaining backward compatibility during system evolution.

Education

Computer Science or Related FieldBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating mastery of computer science fundamentals and software architecture principles.

Experience

Senior-Level Software EngineeringMinimum 5-7 years of professional software engineering experience with at least 2-3 years at senior level demonstrating technical leadership, independent ownership, and ability to navigate ambiguity in complex systems.
Backend Service DevelopmentSubstantial experience developing and maintaining backend services in production environments, handling high-throughput transaction processing, and optimizing for reliability, performance, and scalability.
Travel or E-Commerce Tech StackProfessional familiarity with travel industry technology, booking systems, or high-transaction e-commerce platforms is beneficial but not required for candidates with strong general backend expertise.

Skills

Required skills

Scala ProgrammingStrong proficiency in Scala including functional programming paradigms, type systems, and leveraging Scala's strengths in building concurrent, scalable systems.
Microservices Design PatternsDeep understanding of microservices architecture principles including service decomposition, API design, failure handling, and managing distributed system complexity.
gRPC and Protocol BuffersHands-on experience with gRPC framework and Protocol Buffers for efficient, type-safe service-to-service communication at scale.
Pub/Sub Messaging SystemsPractical experience with event-driven messaging systems like Kafka, RabbitMQ, or cloud-native message brokers for building asynchronous, decoupled architectures.
REST API Design and ImplementationAbility to design and implement well-structured REST APIs following best practices, including versioning strategies, error handling, and backward compatibility.
Production TroubleshootingDemonstrated ability to debug complex distributed systems issues using logs, metrics, traces, and other observability tools to identify and resolve production incidents rapidly.
Code Review and Technical CommunicationExcellence in code review practices, technical documentation, and clear communication with cross-functional teams including non-technical stakeholders.
Rapid Onboarding and ExplorationProven ability to independently understand unfamiliar codebases, technical infrastructure, and system architecture to execute technical plans with minimal supervision.

Nice to have

Java and Kotlin ExperienceAdditional proficiency in Java or Kotlin complements Scala skills and provides flexibility within the broader JVM ecosystem for various service requirements.
Travel Tech or GDS IntegrationProfessional experience with Global Distribution Systems (GDS), hotel booking systems, airline reservation systems, or travel commerce platforms adds valuable domain knowledge.
Cloud Infrastructure and DevOpsFamiliarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), containerization with Docker, orchestration with Kubernetes, and infrastructure-as-code practices.
Observability and MonitoringExperience designing and implementing comprehensive monitoring solutions, distributed tracing, metrics collection, and incident response automation.
Database OptimizationKnowledge of database performance tuning, query optimization, caching strategies, and understanding trade-offs between consistency and availability in distributed systems.
System Performance OptimizationTrack record of profiling applications, identifying performance bottlenecks, optimizing algorithms and database queries, and improving system latency.
Mentorship and Technical LeadershipExperience mentoring junior engineers, designing system architectures, and driving technical decisions across teams while maintaining strong collaborative relationships.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 130,000 – 180,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Pre-IPO Equity Packages

Competitive equity compensation providing meaningful upside participation in Hopper's growth trajectory as a well-funded, pre-IPO startup with significant institutional backing and $750+ million in private capital.

Carrot Cash Travel Stipend

Exclusive travel benefits allowing engineers to experience Hopper's products firsthand while enjoying special discounts and perks for booking flights, hotels, and car rentals.

Flexdesk All Access Pass

Access to global network of flexible workspaces, coworking facilities, and hot-desking options to maintain productivity and collaboration while working remotely across different locations.

Work-from-Home Stipend

Financial support for setting up and maintaining a productive home office environment including equipment, internet, furniture, and other home office essentials.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Dynamic, risk-taking company culture that encourages pushing technical boundaries, experimenting with innovative solutions, and taking calculated risks to drive product advancement.

Open Leadership Communication

Direct access to management and company leadership enabling transparent communication, rapid decision-making, and alignment on strategic technical priorities.

High-Impact Team Environment

Small, dynamic engineering teams within Hopper's $1 trillion online shopping category, ensuring that individual contributions directly influence product direction and company growth.

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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
Play Framework or AkkaSpring BootgRPC
Databases
PostgreSQLCassandra or DynamoDBRedis
Tools
KafkaDocker and KubernetesGit and Version ControlCI/CD PipelinesMonitoring and Observability Tools
Other
Protocol BuffersREST API StandardsDistributed Systems ConceptsAgile Development Methodologies
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