Senior Backend Engineer
SumUp is hiring a Senior Backend Engineer. Level rates it ; you can apply on SumUp.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this software engineer role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Java, Kotlin and AWS.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 356 other open roles at SumUp.
AI in this role
Design and scale complex backend card domain features and infrastructure for a global fintech platform in Brazil.
Senior Backend Engineer – Global Bank tribe
📍 Florianópolis, Brazil
At SumUp, we believe small merchants are the heartbeat of our communities. By joining the Global Bank tribe, you'll help shape the card infrastructure that directly powers how millions of merchants access, manage, and grow their finances in Brazil and beyond.
As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will play a central role in evolving our card domain — from credit card launches and digital wallet integrations to regulatory compliance and cross-market scalability. This is a role for engineers who want their work to matter and who thrive at the intersection of technical excellence and real-world impact.
What you'll do
- Shape the card domain globally: Take ownership of complex backend features across the card lifecycle, delivering production-ready code that scales across Brazil, Chile, and Europe.
- Boost reliability: Introduce and improve monitoring, alerting, and runbook practices, actively support incident handling, and contribute to incident reviews with follow-up improvements that stick.
- Drive technical growth: Define reusable architecture patterns, lead service refactoring, and reduce technical debt across 12+ service orchestrations in the Latam card domain.
- Lead & mentor: Act as a technical reference for junior and mid-level engineers, facilitate design discussions, and author RFC sections that push the team's engineering standards forward.
- Collaborate broadly: Partner with Product Managers, Designers, and cross-functional squads to shape roadmaps, influence technical strategy, and deliver compliant, merchant-facing products.
What makes you a great fit
- Ability to take complex, ambiguous product problems and define clear, scalable technical approaches.
- Strong expertise in unit and integration testing, with a focus on writing reliable, maintainable backend code in production environments.
- Proficiency in backend development, with experience in Java, Kotlin or a genuine drive to master it quickly.
- Hands-on experience with AWS Cloud services and relational databases.
- Able to collaborate effectively across teams and communicate complex ideas in a clear, adaptable way — including with non-technical stakeholders.
- Advanced written and spoken English proficiency.
Why you should join SumUp
📈 Career growth: Be part of a global team working on large-scale fintech products used by millions of businesses across 37 markets.
📚 Learning & development: Access an annual budget of R$ 10,000 for education, certifications, and conferences.
🌍 Global experience: Collaborate with a diverse team of 3,000+ people from over 90 countries, and join our global off-sites and hackathons.
🌴 Time off: Enjoy 30 additional days off through our Break4Me programme after 3 years at SumUp, plus 22 working days of paid leave and public holidays.
💸 Grow with us: Participate in our virtual stock option programme and benefit from SumUp's success with company shares.
💙 Great benefits: Health plans, meal vouchers (Pluxee), Zenklub for mental well-being, Wellhub gym membership, life insurance, childcare allowance, and private retirement contributions via Santander.
🔗 Referral bonus: Earn additional rewards by referring talented people to join the SumUp team.
Learn more about SumUp
🏙️ Office tour – São Paulo
🚀 SumUp's Innovation Hackathon
🤝 Get to know our hiring process
About SumUp
Be empowered to do more that matters.
At SumUp, we're on a mission to empower small businesses across the globe by providing simple and affordable tools that allow them to thrive. Today, over 4 million businesses in 37 markets rely on SumUp as their financial partner to manage payments, finance and customer relationships.
Our commitment to small businesses is reflected in our diverse team of over 3,000 SumUppers from over 90 nationalities, united by global collaboration and an innovative mindset. Our core values lay the foundation for who we are and what we stand for, shaping our work culture and driving our success. We foster inclusivity and a continuous learning culture, providing a safe space for personal and professional growth. Our differences make us unique and strong as we strive to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels supported, no matter how they identify.
SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, actively seeking and embracing diversity in our workforce. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by company policy. Our commitment extends beyond recruitment to creating a safe and respectful workplace where harassment of any form is strictly prohibited. Discover more about our culture and opportunities on our careers website, and follow our journey on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.
Job Application Tip
We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don’t tick every box, it’s ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.
How we rate this
Senior Backend Engineer at SumUp rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in software engineer jobs at this level
Pay
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical software engineer figure when pay comes up. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where backend was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where microservices was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
- What's a project where you used Java hands-on?
- Walk me through how you've used Kotlin in your day-to-day work.
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Backend, Microservices, Architecture, Java, and Kotlin. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
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