Senior Backend Engineer

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Wordly, you will use your experience to design, build, and improve backend services across our technology stack. You will help maintain existing systems while taking ownership of complex new features and services that support Wordly’s real-time translation experiences.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role. You will work from product requirements and established architectural direction to design and implement backend services and APIs, make sound technical decisions within your area of responsibility, and drive complex work through implementation and delivery.

We are looking for someone who can operate independently with limited guidance, contribute technical judgment to design and code reviews, and help raise the quality of the software around them. Strong experience with either Java or Kotlin is required, along with experience using backend frameworks such as Micronaut, Spring Boot, or similar. You should be comfortable working with distributed backend systems, writing and maintaining comprehensive unit and integration tests, and using AI-assisted development tools effectively and responsibly as part of day-to-day engineering work.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience building and maintaining backend services and APIs from product requirements with 5+ years of hands-on experience

• Strong hands-on experience with Java or Kotlin; experience with both is a plus

• Experience with backend frameworks such as Micronaut, Spring Boot, or similar

• Strong experience working in distributed systems and microservice environments

• Experience with messaging and event streaming systems, NoSQL databases, distributed caches, and CI/CD pipelines

• Strong experience writing and maintaining unit and integration tests, with a focus on producing reliable and well-tested software

• Experience debugging and resolving complex issues in backend services

• Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, or similar, and comfort using them effectively and responsibly

• Experience working in modern software development workflows, including version control and code review practices

• Comfortable working with a fully remote team

• Self-motivated and able to independently deliver complex features from requirements through implementation

Desired Qualifications

In addition to the minimum qualifications, the ideal candidate meets some or all of the following desired qualifications.

• Manipulating real-time audio streams

• Developing Node.js applications

• A B.S. degree in Computer Science or equivalent from an accredited institution

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs from product requirements and established architectural direction

• Take ownership of complex backend features and services from technical design through implementation and delivery

• Improve and support existing backend services, including debugging and resolving complex production issues

• Implement solutions involving distributed systems, messaging and event streaming systems, caches, and NoSQL data stores

• Write and maintain comprehensive unit and integration tests, and actively improve test coverage and code quality

• Participate actively in technical design and code reviews, providing constructive technical feedback to other engineers

• Identify opportunities to improve maintainability, reliability, and engineering practices within the areas you work on

• Work cross-functionally with Product, other engineers, and technical leads to deliver backend functionality

• Use AI-assisted development tools effectively and responsibly as part of day-to-day engineering work