Hopper

Staff Backend Software Engineer

Hopper3 days ago
Location

Spain - Remote

Workplace

Remote

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 180,000 – 280,000

Level

Staff

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jun 30, 2026

Full TimeRemoteStaff

The role

Summary

Staff Backend Software Engineer at Hopper, a leading travel fintech platform, responsible for architecting and building scalable commerce systems that power HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) for 410M cardholders. This role focuses on leveraging AI-assisted development workflows, Scala-based distributed systems, and end-to-end feature ownership to drive incremental spend and competitive advantage for banking partners. You'll work autonomously in a low-process environment with senior engineers, directly influencing product roadmaps and technical vision.

What you'll do

Codebase Architecture and Optimization: Identify and implement high-impact improvements to the backend codebase that enhance velocity for both human engineers and AI agents. Design patterns and architectural decisions that support safe, rapid shipping while maintaining system reliability and scalability across the multi-tenant platform.
Distributed Systems Development: Design and architect scalable solutions leveraging Scala and GCP services. Develop foundational patterns for launching new partner experiences efficiently. Work on complex distributed system challenges that power commerce at scale for hundreds of millions of travelers.
End-to-End Feature Ownership: Own features from backend infrastructure through partner-facing surfaces. Primarily focus on backend systems while using AI tooling to move across the full stack as needed. Deliver complete, production-ready features that drive business metrics and customer value.
AI-Assisted Development Leadership: Direct AI agents and automated workflows to build and maintain complex systems. Establish guardrails and feedback loops that keep AI-assisted development productive, reliable, and aligned with product requirements. Exercise judgment to know when to let automation run and when to intervene.
Technical Decision Making and Documentation: Drive technical decisions and build consensus asynchronously through thoughtful documentation, architecture decision records, and technical specifications. Articulate not just solutions but reasoning and tradeoffs, guiding the team through complex engineering challenges.
Product and Business Collaboration: Work directly with product managers and business partners to define and refine roadmap priorities. Bring technical vision to strategic discussions about commerce platform capabilities. Translate cardholder behavior insights and fintech product requirements into scalable technical implementations.
Team Leadership and Knowledge Sharing: Collaborate with diverse senior engineers in a trust-based, low-process environment. Give and receive feedback for continuous growth. Mentor and influence the team through technical excellence and clear communication of complex concepts.

What we look for

Technical

Distributed Systems ArchitectureDeep expertise designing and building distributed systems that handle scale. Strong understanding of consistency models, failure modes, and operational complexity. Experience with microservices patterns, event-driven architectures, and system observability.
Scala and Backend DevelopmentProfessional mastery or demonstrated mastery-level willingness to learn Scala for distributed system development. Strong grasp of functional programming principles and their application to backend systems. Experience building production systems at scale.
AI-Assisted Development and LLM OrchestrationProven experience leveraging AI agents and LLMs for software development acceleration. Deep understanding of LLM strengths, weaknesses, and appropriate use cases. Ability to design feedback loops and guardrails that keep AI-assisted workflows productive and reliable.
GCP Cloud Platform ExpertiseStrong experience with Google Cloud Platform services, infrastructure as code, and cloud-native architecture patterns. Comfortable designing systems that leverage managed services for scalability and reliability.
Full-Stack System ThinkingAbility to reason across the entire system stack from database queries through API design to user-facing components. While backend-focused, comfortable using AI tooling to move across frontend technologies like React and TypeScript as needed to deliver complete features.

Education

Computer Science FoundationBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating strong foundational computer science knowledge.
Continuous Learning MindsetDemonstrated commitment to staying current with emerging technologies, particularly in AI/ML infrastructure and modern development practices. Strong track record of skill acquisition and technical growth throughout career.

Experience

Staff or Senior+ Backend Engineering ExperienceMinimum 8+ years of professional software engineering with 3+ years at senior or staff level. Demonstrated ability to influence architecture decisions, mentor engineers, and drive technical direction across systems.
Complex System Design and ExecutionProven track record shipping large-scale systems that process significant transaction volumes or serve millions of users. Experience navigating technical tradeoffs, managing system complexity, and maintaining reliability at scale.
Commerce or Fintech Platform ExperienceBackground in e-commerce, fintech, travel tech, or similar high-stakes transaction systems. Understanding of payment flows, fraud detection, data consistency requirements, and compliance considerations.
Product-Minded EngineeringTrack record making technical decisions anchored in customer experience and business impact rather than technical elegance alone. Experience collaborating directly with product and business stakeholders on roadmap definition.
Rapid Execution in Ambiguous EnvironmentsNatural drive to fearlessly dive into unknown codebases and deliver results quickly. Experience working in growth-focused, low-process environments with high autonomy and trust-based decision making.

Skills

Required skills

ScalaProduction-grade expertise or proven ability to reach mastery quickly. Functional programming paradigms, type system understanding, and performance optimization.
Distributed Systems DesignAbility to architect systems that scale horizontally. Knowledge of eventual consistency, CQRS, event sourcing, and operational patterns for running distributed systems.
GCP ServicesHands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform, including Compute, Storage, networking, and managed databases. Infrastructure as code and deployment automation.
AI/LLM Integration and OrchestrationExperience building systems that leverage large language models for development acceleration. Understanding of prompt engineering, chain-of-thought patterns, and building reliable feedback loops with AI agents.
Backend API DesignRESTful or gRPC API design, versioning strategies, and backwards compatibility. Experience designing APIs that serve multiple client types and scale with user growth.
System Performance and ObservabilityProfiling, monitoring, and optimizing system performance. Experience with structured logging, distributed tracing, metrics collection, and debugging production issues.

Nice to have

Go, Python, or JavaExperience shipping production systems in alternative languages demonstrates rapid language acquisition and stack-agnostic engineering thinking valued by the team.
React and TypeScriptFrontend familiarity enables end-to-end feature ownership. While not required, helps move across stack layers using AI tooling to deliver complete customer experiences.
Data Pipeline and AnalyticsExperience building data infrastructure, ETL systems, or working closely with analytics teams. Valuable for commerce intelligence and cardholder behavior insights.
Fraud Detection and Risk SystemsBackground in payment fraud detection, risk scoring, or compliance systems applicable to travel commerce and fintech contexts.
Open Source ContributionsActive contributions to open source projects demonstrate communication skills, code quality standards, and engagement with the broader engineering community.
Technical Writing and DocumentationStrong ability to communicate complex technical concepts through architecture decision records, design documents, and clear documentation valued in async-first environments.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 180,000 – 280,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Competitive Equity Packages

Pre-IPO equity as part of comprehensive compensation package. Share in upside of well-funded startup valued at $750M+ private capital backing.

Comprehensive Health Coverage

Private medical and dental coverage with Hopper covering employee premiums. Also includes private life and accident insurance for comprehensive protection.

Exceptional Parental Leave

Significantly above industry standards parental leave benefits, recognizing life needs of senior engineers building sustained careers.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Remote-first work environment with on-demand access to co-working spaces through FlexDesk. Work from anywhere with stipend support for home office setup.

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Unlimited PTO policy enabling senior engineers to manage work-life balance and recovery time without artificial limits.

Wellness and Lifestyle Support

Monthly cash allowances for gym memberships and home office expenses. Carrot Cash travel stipend for exploring travel experiences.

High-Autonomy Culture

Entrepreneurial environment where risk-taking, pushing limits, and innovation are everyday business. Low-process, trust-based decision making with direct influence on technical direction.

Organizational Transparency

Open communication channels with management and company leadership. Direct access to senior leadership enables understanding of strategy and impact.

High-Impact Teams

Small, dynamic teams with outsized influence on platform capabilities serving hundreds of millions of travelers and driving billions in commerce.

Interview process

  1. 1
    Initial Screening Call — 30-minute conversation with Talent Acquisition or Hiring Manager covering background, engineering interests, and alignment with the Staff-level scope. Assess communication style and curiosity about commerce and AI-assisted development.
  2. 2
    Technical Architecture Interview — 60-minute in-depth discussion of system design and distributed architecture. Review how you've approached complex system challenges, tradeoffs considered, and communication of technical reasoning. May discuss specific scenarios from HTS platform challenges.
  3. 3
    AI/LLM and Development Workflow Interview — 45-minute exploration of how you leverage AI tools in development. Discuss concrete examples of AI-assisted workflows you've built, how you establish guardrails, and judgment calls about when to trust vs. intervene with AI agents and LLMs.
  4. 4
    Code and Systems Deep Dive — Optional hands-on exercise or deep code review discussion. May involve reviewing actual codebase patterns, discussing optimization approaches, or walking through a system design problem specific to multi-tenant commerce platforms.
  5. 5
    Product and Collaboration Round — 30-minute conversation with Product Manager or Business Partner. Discuss how you approach product-minded engineering, translating business requirements into technical solutions, and collaborating across functions.
  6. 6
    Team and Culture Fit — 30-minute conversation with current Staff or Senior engineers on the team. Discuss collaboration style, communication preferences in async environments, and how you approach learning and 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
ScalaTypeScriptPython
Frameworks
ReactgRPC or REST APIsEvent-Driven Architecture Patterns
Databases
Cloud Spanner or PostgreSQLBigQueryFirestore or Datastore
Tools
Google Cloud PlatformAI Development Tools and LLM APIsGit and Version ControlObservability Stack
Other
AI Agent Orchestration FrameworksMulti-Tenant SaaS ArchitectureCommerce and Payment Systems
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