Hopper

Staff Backend Software Engineer

Hopper3 days ago
Location

Brazil - 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 powering 410M cardholders globally through their HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) multi-tenant commerce engine. You'll drive product growth by architecting scalable backend systems, leveraging AI-assisted development workflows to ship features at unprecedented velocity, and collaborating with senior engineers in a low-process, autonomous environment. This role requires mastery of distributed systems in Scala, strong product thinking anchored in customer outcomes, and expert-level judgment in orchestrating AI agents and automated workflows to maintain development velocity and system reliability.

What you'll do

Identify and Execute Codebase Improvements: Systematically identify and implement improvements to the backend codebase that reduce friction for both human engineers and AI agents, enabling faster development velocity, safer deployments, and reduced technical debt. This includes refactoring complex systems, improving code modularity, and establishing patterns that support AI-assisted development workflows.
Own Features End-to-End: Take complete ownership of features from backend architecture through partner-facing surfaces, operating primarily on backend systems while leveraging AI tooling to work across the full stack when needed. Deliver fully functional, production-ready features without requiring supplementary engineering work, balancing backend rigor with full-stack autonomy.
Architect Scalable Solutions and Foundational Patterns: Design and implement scalable distributed system patterns and architectural foundations that efficiently support the launch of new partner experiences within the HTS platform. Build systems that accommodate 410M+ cardholders across multiple banking partners while maintaining performance, reliability, and maintainability.
Drive Asynchronous Decision-Making and Technical Vision: Lead technical decisions and build consensus asynchronously across the team through thoughtful documentation, technical specifications, and architectural proposals. Articulate not just solutions but the reasoning behind them, including tradeoffs, architectural decisions, and their business implications for the Commerce platform.
Collaborate with Product and Business Partners: Work directly with product managers and business stakeholders to define, refine, and influence the technical roadmap. Translate cardholder behavior, business requirements, and market opportunities into technical architecture that drives incremental spend and competitive advantage for banking partners.
Direct AI Agents and Automated Development Workflows: Orchestrate AI agents and automated workflows to build and maintain complex backend systems with expert judgment on when to leverage automation and when to intervene manually. Design guardrails, feedback loops, and validation mechanisms that keep AI-assisted development productive, reliable, and aligned with production standards.
Mentorship and Technical Leadership: Collaborate with a diverse group of senior engineers in a low-process environment, giving and receiving feedback for mutual growth. Model best practices in distributed systems development, AI-assisted engineering, and technical decision-making while maintaining high standards for code quality and system design.

What we look for

Technical

Distributed Systems Development in ScalaDemonstrated experience or mastery-level willingness to learn distributed system development in Scala. Understand concurrent programming models, fault tolerance patterns, actor systems, and Scala's functional programming paradigms as applied to large-scale backend systems.
Backend Architecture and System DesignStrong capability in designing scalable, fault-tolerant backend systems that handle significant traffic and data volume. Experience with microservices architecture, API design, database optimization, and patterns that support rapid scaling across multiple tenants.
AI-Assisted Development and LLM IntegrationHands-on experience orchestrating AI agents, building feedback loops for AI-assisted code generation, and integrating LLMs into development workflows. Demonstrated judgment in evaluating LLM outputs, knowing when to trust automation versus manual intervention, and designing systems that maintain reliability with AI assistance.
GCP Cloud ServicesWorking knowledge of Google Cloud Platform services including compute, storage, networking, and data processing tools. Ability to design and implement infrastructure patterns that leverage GCP's managed services for scalability and operational efficiency.
Full-Stack Capability with Focus on BackendPrimary expertise in backend development with the ability to work across the stack using modern tooling and AI assistance. Comfortable moving between backend and frontend contexts when needed, though backend systems design and optimization remain the primary focus.

Education

Computer Science or Related FieldBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating equivalent technical depth and problem-solving capability.

Experience

Senior-Level Backend Engineering ExperienceMinimum 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with at least 5+ years focused on backend systems, distributed computing, or infrastructure engineering. Track record of leading significant technical initiatives, making architectural decisions at scale, and shipping complex systems to production.
Multi-Tenant Platform or Commerce SystemsExperience designing, building, or optimizing multi-tenant platforms, commerce engines, or large-scale B2B systems. Understanding of the architectural challenges unique to serving multiple partners or customers from a single platform while maintaining isolation, performance, and feature customization.
Rapid Navigation of Unknown CodebasesProven ability to quickly understand large, unfamiliar codebases and deliver results fast. History of joining existing systems, identifying improvement opportunities, and shipping features without extensive onboarding periods.
Product-Centric Technical ThinkingExperience anchoring architecture and quality decisions in customer outcomes rather than technical elegance alone. Track record of collaborating with product, business, and stakeholder teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions that drive measurable value.

Skills

Required skills

Scala ProgrammingStrong proficiency in Scala with deep understanding of functional programming concepts, actor-based concurrency (Akka), and building distributed systems. Comfortable writing idiomatic Scala code that balances expressiveness with maintainability.
Distributed Systems DesignExpertise in designing distributed systems including consensus algorithms, fault tolerance, eventual consistency, data replication, and handling network partitions. Understanding of CAP theorem implications and architecture tradeoffs in large-scale systems.
Cloud Platform Architecture (GCP)Working proficiency with Google Cloud Platform services including App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, Datastore, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, and networking primitives. Ability to design cloud-native architectures that are cost-effective, scalable, and maintainable.
AI-Assisted Development and LLM EvaluationHands-on experience using large language models for code generation, system design, and problem-solving. Strong judgment in evaluating LLM output quality, identifying hallucinations or errors, and knowing when to rely on automation versus manual implementation. Experience building feedback loops and validation mechanisms for AI-assisted workflows.
System Design and ArchitectureAbility to architect complex systems from first principles, define service boundaries, design APIs, and make infrastructure decisions that balance performance, reliability, cost, and developer productivity. Experience with database design, caching strategies, and optimization techniques.
Technical Communication and DocumentationExceptional ability to articulate technical decisions, tradeoffs, and reasoning through design documents, technical specifications, and architectural proposals. Skilled at asynchronous communication and consensus-building without real-time meetings.

Nice to have

Python, Go, or Java ExpertiseStrong background in Python, Go, Java, or other systems programming languages. Demonstrates ability to learn new languages quickly and apply distributed systems thinking across different technology stacks.
Travel, Fintech, or E-Commerce Platform ExperiencePrior experience building or scaling travel booking platforms, financial technology systems, or high-traffic e-commerce infrastructure. Understanding of the unique challenges in pricing, inventory management, and real-time decision-making in these domains.
Real-Time Data Processing and AnalyticsExperience with stream processing systems, event-driven architectures, and real-time analytics pipelines. Knowledge of tools like Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, or Google Cloud Dataflow for processing high-volume event streams.
Machine Learning Integration at ScaleExperience integrating machine learning models or recommendation engines into production backend systems. Understanding of model serving, feature engineering, and the operational aspects of running ML in production.
Developer Productivity and ToolingTrack record of building developer-focused tools, improving CI/CD pipelines, enhancing local development experiences, or reducing friction in engineering workflows. Experience designing systems that enable teams to move faster safely.
React and TypeScript for Full-Stack ContextWorking knowledge of React and TypeScript for understanding frontend requirements and collaborating effectively with frontend engineers. Ability to use AI tooling to build frontend features when needed to complete end-to-end feature ownership.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 180,000 – 280,000 (annual)

Apply for this position

You'll be redirected to the company's application page

Hopper

Hopper

View all jobs

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
AkkaReactPlay Framework
Databases
Google Cloud SQLGoogle Cloud Datastore/FirestoreBigQuery
Tools
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)Docker and KubernetesGoogle Cloud Pub/SubCI/CD PipelinesGit and Code Review SystemsLLM-Based Development Tools
Other
Multi-Tenant System ArchitectureEvent-Driven ArchitectureMachine Learning Model IntegrationAPI Gateway and Service Mesh Patterns
Apply Now

On this page