Staff Backend Engineer - Berlin

Oviva

Oviva

Software Engineering

Germany

Posted on May 1, 2026

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.

Essential:

  • Expert-level proficiency in Java and related frameworks and libraries

  • Deep knowledge on middleware services & frameworks (such as relational databases, NoSQL 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), GitOps, and infrastructure-as-code principles.

Desirable:

  • Driven by a strong curiosity in AI and cutting-edge tech, you're hands-on, experimenting with AI-powered tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude, GitHub 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.