Senior Backend Engineer

Senior Backend Engineer

Role Summary As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will architect, design and deliver high-performance, reactive backend systems powering customer-facing retirement platforms. You will own critical services spanning authentication, orchestration, and API development while mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence. This role demands deep expertise in reactive programming, modern Java frameworks, Node.js middleware, and workflow orchestration in a regulated financial environment.

Key Responsibilities

● Architect, design, and implement reactive, non-blocking APIs using Java with Spring Boot (WebFlux), Quarkus, Micronaut, or Spark Java for high-throughput retirement account operations, in a TDD (Test Driven Development) iterative methodology

● Lead development of Node.js-based authentication, orchestration, and data aggregation layers handling complex multi-system integrations.

● Design and deliver production-grade BFF (Backend for Frontend) architectures in Node.js optimizing data delivery for Angular/React clients and mobile applications.

●Own Apache Camel integration implementations including enterprise integration patterns, Saga orchestration, and lightweight BPMN workflows for distributed retirement transactions.

●

Architect and implement distributed transaction patterns using Saga compensating transactions across contribution, withdrawal, rollover, and compliance workflows.

●

Drive GraphQL API design including schema evolution, query optimization, batching strategies, and resolver performance tuning for complex domain aggregations.

● Lead ORM strategy and implementation using Hibernate, JPA, or TypeORM with focus on performance optimization, caching strategies, and database query tuning.

●

Establish reactive programming patterns using Project Reactor, RxJava, or reactive streams for high-concurrency, low-latency financial operations.

●

Design resilient system architectures incorporating circuit breakers, bulkheads, rate limiting, and fallback mechanisms for third-party integrations.

●

Collaborate with architects and product leaders to define technical roadmaps, API contracts, and domain boundaries for retirement platform evolution.

● Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews, architecture discussions, and technical guidance on best practices.

●

Drive quality through comprehensive testing strategies including unit, integration, contract testing, and chaos engineering principles.

● Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and implement preventive measures for production systems.

● Champion engineering excellence through establishing coding standards, architectural patterns, and observability practices.

Required Skills and Experience

● 6-12 years of backend engineering experience with demonstrated progression in technical complexity and leadership responsibilities.

● Expert-level proficiency in Java backend development using Spring Boot (including WebFlux), Quarkus, Micronaut, or Spark Java with production deployment experience.

● Deep expertise in reactive programming paradigms using Project Reactor, RxJava, or reactive streams for building non-blocking, asynchronous systems.

●Advanced Node.js development skills for building production-grade authentication services, orchestration middleware, and BFF architectures.

● Proven experience designing and implementing RESTful and GraphQL APIs at scale with focus on performance, versioning, and backward compatibility.

● Strong GraphQL expertise including schema design, federation patterns, N+1 query resolution, DataLoader implementation, and performance optimization.

● Advanced ORM knowledge with Hibernate, JPA, or TypeORM including query optimization, caching strategies (L1/L2), lazy loading, and transaction management.

●

Production experience with Apache Camel implementing EIP patterns, routing, transformation, and error handling for enterprise integrations.

●

Hands-on implementation of Saga patterns and compensating transactions for distributed systems in financial or mission-critical environments.

● Experience with lightweight BPMN engines or workflow orchestration frameworks for long-running business processes.

● Deep understanding of microservices architecture, domain-driven design, event-driven architectures, and distributed system patterns.

● Expertise in relational databases (PostgreSQL, Oracle) including schema design, indexing strategies, query optimization, and transaction isolation levels.

●

Strong execution knowledge of authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, mutual TLS) and their application in financial systems.

● Experience with message brokers (Kafka, RabbitMQ) and event streaming architectures for asynchronous processing.

● Proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS or Azure) including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), serverless architectures, and infrastructure patterns.

●

Strong understanding of observability practices including distributed tracing, metrics, logging, and Enterprise APM tools (Dynatrace, NewRelic, Prometheus, ELK).

Preferred Qualifications

● Direct experience in fintech, retirement services, wealth management, or regulated financial environments with understanding of ERISA, SEC, or similar compliance requirements.

●

Experience implementing event sourcing, CQRS patterns, or other advanced distributed system architectures.

●

Hands-on experience with API gateway technologies, service mesh implementations, or platform engineering.

●

Knowledge of functional programming paradigms and their application in reactive systems.

●

Some experience with chaos engineering, resilience testing, and SRE practices.

●

Familiarity with financial data standards (FIX, OFX, FDX, ISO 20022) or payment processing systems.

● Contributions to open-source projects or technical thought leadership through blogging, speaking, or community engagement.

●

Experience leading technical initiatives, architecture reviews, or cross-team engineering initiatives.

Technical Environment

●

Backend Frameworks:

Spring Boot (WebFlux), Quarkus, Micronaut, Spark Java, Spring MVC

●

Reactive:

Project Reactor, RxJava, reactive streams, non-blocking I/O

●

Middleware:

Node.js, Express.js, NestJS

●

Integration & Orchestration:

Apache Camel, Saga patterns, BPMN engines

●

APIs:

REST, GraphQL (Apollo Server, GraphQL Java, federation)

●

ORM:

Hibernate, JPA, TypeORM, Sequelize

●

Databases:

PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Redis

●

Messaging:

Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SQS/SNS

●

Cloud:

AWS (Lambda, ECS, API Gateway, S3) or Azure

●

Containers:

Docker, Kubernetes, service mesh

●

Observability:

Dynatrace, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, distributed tracing

Leadership and Impact

●

Own architectural decisions for critical backend services affecting millions of financial accounts.

●

Drive technical strategy and roadmap for backend platform evolution.

●

Mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers through pairing, reviews, and knowledge sharing.

● Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders including product, compliance, security, and infrastructure teams.

●

Establish engineering standards and best practices across backend services and APIs.

●

Lead incident response and drive continuous improvement in system reliability and operational excellence.

You Will Thrive Here If You:

●

Excel at designing scalable, resilient systems handling high-volume financial transactions in regulated environments.

●

Are passionate about reactive programming, performance optimization, and operational excellence.

●

Enjoy solving complex distributed system challenges and orchestrating multi-system workflows.

●

Value mentorship and technical leadership as core aspects of engineering excellence.

●

Thrive in environments balancing innovation with regulatory compliance and security rigor.

●

Demonstrate ownership mentality with bias toward action and results.