Backend Engineer - Berlin

The Staff Backend Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for the long-term health and direction of our backend services. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy to identify and solve our most critical technical challenges, often in areas that are loosely defined or cross multiple domains. Unlike a Senior Engineer who masters a specific domain, you will provide the technical vision and architectural guardrails for several domains.

You will be a go-to expert for other engineers, leading by example with exceptional code, robust system design, and strategic thinking that anticipates future business needs.

• Expert-level proficiency in Java and related frameworks and libraries
• Deep knowledge on middleware services & frameworks (such as relational databases, No
  
  SQL databases, messaging systems, etc.) and nuanced understanding of their internals.
• Demonstrated experience designing, building, and operating complex, distributed systems at scale.
• Mastery of architectural patterns, domain-driven design, and data modeling for complex systems.
• Proven ability to influence and lead large, complex technical projects without formal authority.
• Exceptional ability to navigate and resolve technical ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.
• Critical and data driven mindset in problem-solving and solution design
• Active participation in technical guilds or communities of practices.
• Proficiency with cloud-native architectures, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), Git Ops, and infrastructure-as-code principles.

• Driven by a strong curiosity in AI and cutting-edge tech, you're hands‑on, experimenting with AI‑powered tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude, Git Hub Copilot)) to enhance productivity and code quality.
• Experience in presenting at internal tech talks, external meetups, or conferences.
• Extensive, proven track record of technical leadership and impact in a senior or staff-level engineering role.
• Recognized as a go‑to technical expert and thought leader by peers and leadership.
• Contributions to open‑source projects.
• Experience in a regulated industry, such as healthcare.
• Master in computer science or equivalent field

• Lead the design, development, and evolution of large‑scale systems or company initiatives, often across multiple teams.
• Define the long‑term technical roadmap and architectural vision for key areas of our platform, and articulate the return on investment (ROI) to engineering leaders and other departments.
• Decompose complex business and system problems into clear, scalable, and elegant technical designs.
• Act as a technical lead on cross‑team projects, ensuring that architectural principles and quality standards are met.
• Drive engineering excellence by identifying and resolving root problems while promoting best practices across the organization.
• Mentor senior engineers, providing deep technical guidance and fostering their growth into future technical leaders.
• Conduct technical interviews and assess the technical expertise of candidates during the recruitment process.
• Represent engineering in cross‑functional discussions
• Drive innovation by prototyping and championing the adoption of new technologies and methodologies, including the strategic use of LLMs and AI‑driven development practices.