Hopper

Staff Backend Software Engineer

Hopper3 days ago
Location

United Kingdom - Remote

Workplace

Remote

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 190,000 – 280,000

Level

Staff

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jun 30, 2026

Full TimeRemoteStaff

The role

Summary

Hopper seeks a Staff Backend Software Engineer to drive growth and innovation within the Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS) platform—a configurable, multi-tenant travel commerce engine powering 410M cardholders across global banking and travel partners. This role focuses on leveraging AI-assisted development and distributed systems to architect scalable solutions, ship features end-to-end, and transform commerce from a vendor service to a strategic card partner. You'll work autonomously with senior engineers on the backend infrastructure primarily built in Scala and GCP, while maintaining full-stack capabilities to deliver complete features and drive technical vision across the organization.

What you'll do

AI-Assisted Codebase Optimization: Identify and execute improvements to the codebase that make it easier for both human engineers and AI agents to move fast and ship safely. Orchestrate AI agents and automated workflows to build and maintain complex systems while developing strong judgment around when to intervene manually versus allowing automation to proceed.
End-to-End Feature Ownership: Own features completely from backend systems through partner-facing surfaces, primarily working on backend infrastructure while leveraging AI tooling to move across the full stack as needed. Demonstrate ability to ship complete, production-quality features rather than limiting work to a single layer of the technology stack.
Distributed Systems Architecture: Design and implement scalable solutions and foundational patterns in Scala and GCP services that enable efficient launch of new partner experiences. Create robust architectures that support multi-tenant commerce operations at scale across a network of banking and travel partners.
Cross-Functional Technical Leadership: Drive decisions and consensus asynchronously through thoughtful documentation, architectural specifications, and technical proposals. Work directly with product managers and business partners to define and refine the roadmap, ensuring your technical vision and voice meaningfully influence strategic direction.
Product-Driven Engineering: Apply strong product thinking to all architectural decisions, anchoring design choices in customer experience and business impact rather than technical elegance for its own sake. Balance tradeoff analysis and provide clear articulation of not just how to solve problems, but why specific solutions were chosen.
AI-Assisted Development Frameworks: Design and maintain guardrails and feedback loops that keep AI-assisted development productive, reliable, and maintainable. Develop mastery-level expertise in using Large Language Models within software development workflows, knowing their strengths and weaknesses intimately.
Low-Process Collaborative Engineering: Work within a trust-based, low-process environment with senior engineers, maintaining strong autonomy while giving and receiving feedback for continuous growth. Collaborate with a diverse group of team members to drive technical excellence and knowledge sharing across the organization.

What we look for

Technical

Distributed Systems Development in ScalaDemonstrated experience designing, building, and maintaining distributed systems in Scala, or mastery-level willingness to rapidly develop this expertise. Understanding of functional programming paradigms, actor-based concurrency models, and Scala-specific patterns for building scalable backend systems.
Cloud Infrastructure and GCP ServicesProficiency with Google Cloud Platform services including compute, storage, networking, and data processing services. Experience architecting and deploying backend systems on cloud infrastructure at scale.
AI-Driven Development PracticesHands-on experience orchestrating AI agents, building feedback loops, and shipping features using AI-assisted development tools. Deep understanding of Large Language Model capabilities and limitations, with demonstrated ability to develop strong judgment about when to trust LLM output versus manual intervention.
Full-Stack Feature DeliveryDemonstrated capability to deliver end-to-end features from backend through frontend interfaces, with primary expertise in backend systems. Comfort moving across the technology stack using modern development tools and maintaining quality standards across layers.
Codebase Navigation and VelocityNatural drive to fearlessly dive into unknown codebases and deliver results quickly. Ability to rapidly understand complex systems, identify optimization opportunities, and execute improvements without requiring extensive onboarding.

Education

Computer Science or Related FieldBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or related technical discipline. Alternatively, equivalent professional experience and demonstrated technical depth through portfolio and career progression.

Experience

Staff-Level Systems Engineering5+ years of professional software engineering experience with significant time at senior or staff level, demonstrating architectural thinking, mentorship, and technical leadership. Track record of building and shipping complex systems that have scaled to production use.
Multi-Tenant and Commerce Platform DevelopmentExperience building or maintaining multi-tenant platforms, commerce systems, or fintech products. Understanding of the challenges in supporting multiple customers with shared infrastructure while maintaining isolation and customization.
High-Velocity, Autonomous TeamsSuccess working in fast-paced, trust-based environments with high autonomy. Proven ability to self-direct work, make sound technical decisions with limited process overhead, and collaborate effectively without heavy process frameworks.
AI and Large Language Models in ProductionHands-on experience with Large Language Models in production or research contexts, demonstrating practical knowledge of their capabilities, limitations, hallucination patterns, and appropriate use cases in software systems.

Skills

Required skills

Scala ProgrammingProduction-level expertise in Scala with strong understanding of functional programming, type systems, and concurrency models. Ability to write clean, efficient distributed systems code and mentor others on Scala best practices.
Distributed Systems DesignDeep expertise in designing systems that operate across multiple nodes, including consistency models, fault tolerance, service communication, and scalability challenges. Understanding of trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
GCP Cloud ServicesPractical experience with Google Cloud Platform services such as Compute Engine, Cloud Run, Datastore, BigQuery, or Pub/Sub. Ability to architect solutions leveraging cloud-native services and best practices.
API Design and Backend ArchitectureExpertise designing REST or gRPC APIs, database schemas, and backend architectures that support production traffic at scale. Understanding of service boundaries, data consistency, and system resilience patterns.
AI-Assisted DevelopmentProficiency using large language models and AI coding assistants within software development workflows. Ability to effectively prompt, iterate with AI tools, validate outputs, and integrate AI-generated code into production systems safely.
Technical CommunicationExceptional ability to articulate architectural decisions in writing, create clear technical specifications and design documents, and communicate trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders asynchronously.

Nice to have

TypeScript and ReactFamiliarity with React and TypeScript for full-stack development. While not required for backend-focused role, ability to ship frontend features using modern tooling and AI assistance provides significant advantage.
Fintech and Payment SystemsExperience building financial technology products, payment systems, or working with banking platforms. Understanding of compliance, fraud prevention, and the unique challenges of fintech systems.
Travel Technology or E-CommercePrior experience in travel, hospitality, booking systems, or e-commerce platforms. Familiarity with challenges in the travel industry or multi-vendor commerce environments.
Observability and MonitoringExpertise in distributed tracing, logging, metrics, and alerting systems for production environments. Experience building and maintaining observability infrastructure for complex systems.
Autonomous Agent FrameworksExperience working with AI agent frameworks, orchestration systems, or automated workflows beyond basic LLM interaction. Knowledge of ReAct patterns, tool use, or specialized agent libraries.
Other Backend LanguagesProduction experience with Go, Python, Java, or Rust. Demonstrated ability to learn languages quickly and apply strong software engineering principles across language ecosystems.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 190,000 – 280,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Pre-IPO Equity and Upside

Competitive equity packages providing significant upside potential as a well-funded startup with over $750 million USD in private capital backing and strong growth trajectory.

Comprehensive Health Coverage

100% premium coverage for employees through Vitality Health group insurance plans, including medical, dental, and vision benefits.

Retirement Planning

Automatic contributions through Smart Pension when you join Hopper, providing enhanced retirement savings and financial security.

Generous Parental Leave

Above-industry-standard parental leave policies offering extended time for family planning, significantly more generous than typical technology sector standards.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Access to on-demand co-working spaces through FlexDesk partnerships combined with work-from-home stipend, supporting hybrid and remote work preferences.

Travel Stipend

Carrot Cash travel stipend providing financial support for professional development and personal travel benefits.

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Flexible vacation policy with unlimited PTO, trusting engineers to manage their own time off for work-life balance and personal development.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Dynamic, risk-taking environment that encourages pushing boundaries, experimenting with new approaches, and taking calculated technical risks as part of everyday business.

Open Leadership Communication

Direct access to management and company leadership with transparent communication channels, enabling input into strategic decisions and rapid feedback loops.

High-Impact Team Structure

Small, dynamic teams where individual contributions create massive organizational impact, avoiding bureaucratic hierarchies and enabling rapid decision-making.

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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
ScalaTypeScriptJavaPython
Frameworks
ReactPlay FrameworkAkka
Databases
Cloud DatastoreBigQueryCloud SQL
Tools
Google Cloud PlatformGitHubLarge Language ModelsDocker and KubernetesMonitoring and Observability Platforms
Other
AI Agent OrchestrationAsynchronous ArchitectureAPI Design and Integration
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