Senior Backend Developer
Utrecht
Full-time
Reports to CTO
10+ years experience
About the Role
We are seeking a Senior Backend Developer with a minimum of 10 years of professional experience building and scaling backend systems. This role requires strong communication skills and technical depth in backend architecture, performance-driven engineering, and secure, maintainable code practices. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working in a test-driven, AI-assisted development environment and will play a key role in shaping the reliability and scalability of our backend systems.
Key Responsibilities
- Architect and design scalable backend systems and services with a focus on performance, maintainability, and security
- Leverage AI-driven development tools (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or similar) to accelerate development, improve code quality, and enhance team productivity
- Collaborate with product managers, frontend developers, and other stakeholders to deliver business-critical features
- Translate business requirements to AI agent ready technical specifications
- Review PR's from peer developers and AI agents
- Drive development practices that emphasize test-driven development (TDD) and high-quality, automated test coverage
- Build, optimize, and maintain relational, key-value and time-series databases ensuring efficient queries, schema design, and scalability
- Apply security best practices across the stack, ensuring robust protection against vulnerabilities and compliance with standards
- Monitor and improve system performance (latency, throughput, scalability, resource efficiency)
- Mentor and support other developers, fostering a culture of excellence, learning, and innovation
Required Qualifications
Experience
- 10+ years of professional backend development
- Proven expertise in backend architecture and system design
- Experience in performance tuning and high-throughput, low-latency system design
Technical Skills
- Strong proficiency in Golang; Rust is a plus
- Solid background in database schema design and optimization
- Knowledge of distributed systems and high data throughput
AI & Modern Practices
- Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools
- Demonstrated experience with TDD and CI/CD pipelines
- Deep knowledge of security best practices (OWASP, secure coding)
Infrastructure
- Hands-on experience with cloud-native environments
- Kubernetes, containers, service meshes
Soft Skills
- Communication - Excellent skills in English (Dutch is a strong plus)
- Collaboration - Work effectively with product managers and other stakeholders
- Mentorship - Support and guide other developers, fostering excellence
- Ownership - Take responsibility for reliability and scalability
- Problem-solving - Translate complex business requirements into solutions