Staff Backend Engineer - Berlin
Oviva
Software Engineering
Germany
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.