Senior Backend Engineer

At EF we believe that the world is better when people try to understand one another. Since 1965, we have helped millions of people see new places, experience new cultures, and learn new things about the world and about themselves. Our culturally immersive education programs—focused on language, travel, cultural exchange, and academics—turn dreams into international opportunities.

When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than 600 schools and offices in 50 countries, all with one shared mission of opening the world through education. Whoever you are, whatever you are passionate about—we welcome you and want you to bring that to work every day. EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, caste, parental status, identity, experience and everything else that makes you unique.

Founded in Sweden in 1965, EF has schools and offices around the world, including hubs in Boston, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Stockholm, Zürich, and more. Learn more at

The Team
We're a close-knit, collaborative team of
6 engineers
across
Spain
,
London
, and
Shanghai
, passionate about building impactful EdTech solutions. We thrive on mutual respect, empathy, and a shared commitment to excellence.

Personal development and continuous learning define us. We believe this role should enrich you—through skill growth, new challenges, and meaningful opportunities—as much as your expertise elevates our mission.

The Technologies
Our tech stack includes:

• Go
• NodeJS
• PostgreSQL
• Kubernetes (K8S)
• AWS
• Docker
• Terraform
• Datadog

The Role
As a
Senior Backend Engineer
at EF, you'll design, build, and optimize scalable backend systems that power our EdTech platforms, reaching millions of learners worldwide. You'll drive technical architecture, ensure top-tier performance and reliability, and craft robust APIs and services. This role requires technical leadership, seamless collaboration, and a passion for delivering production-ready solutions.

You'll work alongside seasoned developers, UX designers, and academics in a dynamic, agile environment that fosters innovation and collective growth.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend systems from the ground up
• Deliver clean, maintainable, and high-performing code
• Optimize PostgreSQL databases for performance and scalability
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to shape and implement technical solutions
• Lead software architecture design and system-level decisions
• Champion backend best practices and process enhancements
• Ensure quality through rigorous testing, documentation, and standards
• Diagnose and resolve critical production issues with precision

Required
Skills and Experience

• Exceptional communication and teamwork skills in English
• 5+ years of experience building and scaling backend systems

• Proficiency in:

• High-level programming language(s) (e.g. Go, Python, Java, )

• Relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• A cloud hosting provider (e.g. AWS, GCP, Azure)

• CI/CD tools (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins)

• Deep knowledge of:

• Design patterns and system architecture

• Data structures and algorithms
• Web protocols (e.g., HTTP, WebSockets) and networking

• Scalability, optimization, and distributed systems

• Experience with automated testing

• Strong analytical and design skills for reliable, production-grade systems
• Ability to mentor peers and guide technical decisions
• Availability to cover out-of-hours on-call

Desirable

• Expertise in:

• Go

• NodeJS

• Git

• Experience using AI based engineering tools to enhance productivity

• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Familiarity with Unix/Linux environments
• Experience in monitoring, observability and tracing of distributed systems
• Proven ability to optimize database queries and handle large-scale data
• Exposure to event-driven systems or message queues (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ)