Senior Backend Engineer

ABOUT TALON.ONE:   Talon.One is the most powerful incentives engine that unifies loyalty, promotions and gamification into one holistic platform. Backed by enterprise-grade security and scalability, Talon.One empowers companies to build personalized, profitable promotions and loyalty programs using any data. Today, over 250 of the world’s most-loved brands including Adidas, Sephora and Carlsberg work with Talon.One to drive deeper engagement and lasting loyalty with their customers.   ABOUT THE TEAM: Our development team consists of specialists in frontend, backend, QA, product, and visual design. We work in small cross-functional teams that give everybody insight and hands-on experience of what everyone else is doing. Each team is self-sustained, autonomous, and responsible for a specific feature or area in our platform. We believe in strong collaboration, open communication, and mentoring to allow bi-directional growth. We are working to make Talon.One an inclusive workplace because we believe it is the right thing to do and because we want to have a positive impact on the entire tech industry. We are currently looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our development teams. You will work closely with our product people to design the right solutions to our challenging problems while collaborating, mentoring, and supporting the other team members. For this position, we need professionals who are already based in Berlin or willing to move to Berlin.   ONCE YOU ARE HERE YOU WILL: * Lead and deliver features of any size — independently or by coordinating effort across the squad * Drive technical discovery and solution design in collaboration with your PM and Tech Lead * Actively share technical knowledge across the Backend Guild — through discussions, documentation, and knowledge-sharing sessions * Participate in cross-squad (Backend Guild) brainstorming sessions and problem-solving discussions * Mentor and unblock junior and mid-level engineers through pairing, code review, and deliberate feedback * Champion improvements to quality, maintainability, and engineering process within your squad and beyond * Be a crucial member in a small cross-functional team (a squad) * Contribute effectively during all Scrum rituals, facilitation of process maturity increments, and engineering best practices initiatives * Regularly participate in code reviews and provide constructive feedback * Consistently monitor the maintenance of quality standards and proactively recommend engineering or process improvements   WHAT WE NEED YOU TO BRING TO THE TABLE: * 6+ years of experience as a Backend Developer building enterprise-grade web applications — Go strongly preferred, but we're also open to strong backgrounds in other mainstream backend languages (e.g., Node.js, Java, C#, Python). * Basic working familiarity with Go — you don't need deep expertise, but you should be comfortable reading Go code and understanding its core syntax and idioms. * If your background is primarily in another stack: during interviews, you'll need to demonstrate you can pick up Go quickly and show a genuine willingness to build your career in Go — our backend stack (Go) isn't changing, so this is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have. * Strong architectural instincts — you understand tradeoffs and can articulate them clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders * The ability to mentor others without being asked — you notice where people are stuck and act on it * A guild mindset: you contribute to backend-wide discussions, not just your squad's backlog * In-depth knowledge of REST API design, PostgreSQL, and Testing Techniques * Experience building scalable, maintainable, and performant large-scale applications * A proven track record of designing the architecture of multiple applications or complex features end-to-end * Hands-on experience owning maintenance, performance, and security concerns for production systems * Strong tendency towards implementing modern best practices like pair-programming sessions, unit and integration tests, adaptation of AI and automation, refactoring, SOLID principles, security best practices, documentation as code, regular knowledge sharing, etc. * Big-picture thinking; You collaborate with non-developers to clarify requirements and help plan projects, with an eye on the overall impact on the business & product * A willingness to learn about and contribute to the whole stack is essential * A team-first attitude; As a group, we strive to leave egos at home * Empathy for your customers and your colleagues   ABOUT TECHNOLOGY:  * Kubernetes running on Google Cloud * PostgreSQL * We use Go for our API, core logic, and internal tooling * TypeScript, React, Redux, and CSS modules for our web application * Cypress for automated end-to-end testing * Other odds & ends in JavaScript and shell script   WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU: * A Research and Development Department of 90+ of engineers, product managers and product designers in Berlin * Leaders with 8+ years of experience building our promotions engine  * €1,000 annual learning budget and free German language courses to boost your skills * 30 days of annual leave, plus extra paid days for your birthday and moving day * Home office setup budget, a monthly home office allowance * Freedom to work from abroad for up to 90 days worldwide! * Mental health support with nilo.health and a discounted Urban Sports Club membership * 20% company subsidy on your pension contributions * Subsidised BVG public transport ticket and a dog-friendly Berlin office where your furry friend is welcome * Lease your ideal bike through BusinessBike

Ever imagined saying, “I helped launch the future of transportation”? We’re rewriting the rules of urban mobility. At Vay, customers tap a button and a car arrives - with no one inside - powered by our world-first Remote Driving technology on real public streets. We’re live in Las Vegas and scaling fast, powered by a strategic investment of up to $410 million from Grab. Our mission is simple: replace private car ownership with a faster, cleaner, door-to-door mobility model. If you want to build something real, visible, and genuinely transformative, you’ll feel right at home here. Curious to experience Vay yourself? Use the code VAYCANDIDATE for $10 off your first trip in Las Vegas! Download the "Vay" app from the Apple or Google Play store & off you go!  WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VAY * First to roll out vehicles in both Europe and the USA on public roads without a human being inside & currently the 2nd largest commercial, driverless car fleet in the Western World. * We've partnered with Kodiak to bring remote-driving technology to autonomous trucks in the US, showcasing our ability to integrate our system into heavy-duty commercial vehicles and expand the applications of our tech across the US. * We’ve completed 10’s of thousands of trips so far and are busy multiplying our Las Vegas fleet just to meet demand! * ...And soon we’ll be expanding across the US & Europe 🚀 WHY THIS ROLE IS EXCITING  At Vay, we’re revolutionizing mobility with cutting-edge remote driving technology, and we need exceptional engineers to bring this vision to life. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in scaling our business and shaping the future of transportation. This is not your typical backend role - your work will sit at the intersection of deep tech and mobility, tackling challenges that have never been solved before. You'll collaborate closely with a dynamic, cross-functional team spanning product, frontend, mobile, electrical engineering, embedded software, and more. From defining technical requirements to designing, implementing, and deploying solutions, you’ll have full ownership over the technology you build - making a real, tangible impact on the company and our customers. Your contributions will power fleet management, dispatch, payments, and real-time APIs that connect drivers and customers seamlessly. Every line of code you write will help craft a magical user experience, ensuring that remote driving feels effortless, safe, and efficient. If you thrive on solving complex problems and want to push the boundaries of what’s possible in mobility, we’d love to have you on board. WHAT YOU'LL BE DRIVING * Design & Develop: Build and maintain scalable Golang-based backend services, APIs, and cloud infrastructure as code - leveraging CI/CD to ensure seamless deployments. * Elevate Engineering Excellence: Contribute to cross-team platform engineering initiatives, shaping shared best practices, tools, and libraries to drive efficiency and innovation. * Build End-to-End Solutions: Work closely with frontend, mobile, and embedded teams to craft seamless, high-impact solutions that directly enhance the customer experience and business operations. * Drive Product & Technical Vision: Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to refine goals, define requirements, and actively contribute to sprint and quarterly planning. * Own Quality & Reliability: Champion clean code, automation, and continuous monitoring, ensuring robustness, scalability, and a world-class developer experience. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR  * Backend Expertise: Hands-on experience developing scalable backend services and APIs, preferably in Golang (Python is also highly relevant). * Cloud & Distributed Systems: Solid understanding of cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, scalability, and reliability best practices. * Event-Driven Architectures: Familiarity with technologies like Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar event-driven messaging systems. * DevOps & Infrastructure: Experience with CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and monitoring to ensure robust and maintainable deployments. * Database Proficiency: Strong knowledge of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), with an understanding of data modeling and optimization. * Education & Fundamentals: Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM field, with a strong grasp of algorithms and data structures. NICE TO HAVE: * Industry Experience: Background in Mobility, Logistics, or similar domains. * Mobile-First Products: Experience working on products with a strong mobile integration. * Additional Tech Stack: Familiarity with Node.js, gRPC, AWS, Terraform, or NoSQL databases. * Low-Level Programming: Proficiency with C/C++ for performance-critical components. WHY CHOOSE VAY 💪 A global team of smart, motivated people from 30+ countries who love tackling hard problems and turning bold ideas into reality 🌍 Huge scope for impact in a fast paced environment 💰 ESOP stock options: A stake in Vay’s future - not just a salary 🌴 Unlimited Paid Vacation Days 🎫 Subsidised Deutschland ticket (Berlin) 🏋️‍♂️ Subsidised Urban Sports Club or FitX Membership  🚗 All Vay team members receive 30% off their Vay rides 🛍️ Exclusive external discounts 💼 €350 Home office budget  ✈️ Relocation financial assistance when relocating to Berlin  📚 Fully funded German lessons  🎊 Regular team events throughout the year For more information on Vay’s physical demands, working environments and safety requirements, you can review this link. We’ll also cover anything specific to this role during the first interview. We’d love to stay connected for future opportunities, so feel free to include your LinkedIn profile when you apply. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and experiences. If you’re excited about shaping something truly groundbreaking, we’d be happy to hear from you.