Staff Backend Engineer (Kotlin/Java)

Join one of our platform teams and help us build the foundations and integrations that power Productboard – a one-of-a-kind product management system used by 5000+ global companies. You will work on technically critical and high-leverage areas like authentication, permissions, platform services, developer experience, and shared infrastructure - all foundational pieces that enable every product team at Productboard to move faster and build more reliably. As a Staff engineer (IC4), you’ll be a force multiplier: unblocking delivery, setting technical direction, and creating systems that raise the bar for engineering velocity and quality across the company. You’ll lead through technical strategy and execution, represent your team in cross-functional forums, and mentor engineers to become more effective. You’ll work closely with PMs and other tech leads to drive platform thinking and pragmatic architectural choices. We value strong Kotlin skills and thoughtful backend design. Ruby experience is a big plus, but more important is your ability to think clearly and adapt - regardless of language. If you’re excited to have outsized impact across teams, and thrive on solving deep technical challenges with clarity and purpose, we’d love to hear from you. This role is primarily based in our Prague or Brno office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. Responsibilities Identify and lead high-impact technical initiatives that improve platform scalability, reliability, or developer experience. Own complex system design and architectural decisions, collaborating across teams to align technical direction with product needs. Unblock your team by simplifying complexity, cutting scope when needed, and delivering pragmatic solutions that accelerate value delivery. Proactively tackle tech debt, instability, or bottlenecks that affect multiple teams - and build reusable solutions that serve the whole org. Write high-quality Kotlin (or Java) code and establish clear patterns, documentation, and design artifacts others can build on. Mentor engineers across levels, supporting their growth through pairing, feedback, and architectural guidance. Represent your team in cross-functional initiatives and engineering-wide discussions around architecture, tooling, or quality. Improve the reliability, observability, and performance of shared services - and contribute to our incident response practices. Requirements 6+ years of professional experience building and evolving backend systems at scale, ideally on platform or infrastructure teams Deep technical expertise in system design, distributed architectures, and scalable backend services Strong proficiency in Kotlin or Java; Ruby experience is a plus - but more importantly, you’re language-agnostic and focus on good thinking Proven ability to drive cross-team initiatives and technical strategy from concept through delivery Experience improving developer experience, CI/CD pipelines, or service reliability across teams Strong communication skills and the ability to drive alignment through crisp documentation and design artifacts (e.g. ADRs, RFCs) Experience mentoring and elevating engineers by creating systems, standards, and feedback loops that scale A pragmatic, impact-driven mindset - you bias toward action and push for solutions that balance quality, scope, and speed Bonus: Experience working on authentication, permissions, observability, or similar foundational concerns Bonus: Curiosity to explore AI-based tooling for accelerating backend development or automation Our Tech Stack

You’ll work with the following frameworks, tools, and languages:

Frontend: TypeScript, React, GraphQL Backend: Kotlin, Ruby, Kafka Storage: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Elastic, Redis Data Pipeline: Python, Keboola, Looker, Snowflake Infrastructure: AWS, Cloudflare, Kubernetes, Terraform Business tools: Slack, Jira, Google suite, Zoom, Notion You can see the full tech stack here You Can Look Forward to the Following Benefits Stock options MacBook + 34″ monitor Budget for online courses, books, and conferences 5 weeks of vacation + sick days 1 Volunteer Day per year for you to help causes close to your heart Carrot Fertility Benefits Free snacks, drinks, and yummy catered lunches MultiSport card to access sports facilities Flexible working hours and home office Parental benefits Language lessons Mental Wellness Program to support your well-being and self-care Hone – Live, interactive learning programs for managers, leaders, and teams