Lead Software Engineer - Back End (Gurugram based)

Get to Know our Team:

In Agoda's Back End Engineering department, we build the scalable, fault-tolerant systems and APIs that host our core business logic. Our systems cover all major areas of our business: inventory and pricing, product information, customer data, communications, partner data, booking systems, payments, and more. These mission-critical systems change frequently with dozens of releases per day, so we must employ state-of-the-art CI/CD and testing techniques in order to make sure everything works without any downtime. We also ensure that our systems are self-healing, responding gracefully to extreme loads or unexpected input. In order to accomplish this, we use state-of-the-art languages like Scala and Go, data technologies like Kafka and Aerospike, and agile development practices. Most importantly though, we hire great people from all around the world and empower them to be successful. Whether it's building new projects like Flights and Packages or reimagining our existing business, you'll make a big impact as part of the Back End Engineering team.

The Opportunity:

Agoda is hiring a Lead Backend Engineer to architect and develop mission-critical systems that power our global travel platform. You'll design and evolve scalable microservices, distributed systems, and high-performance APIs serving millions of daily user requests with extreme reliability. Join our backend team in Bangalore to lead large-scale technical initiatives, mentor engineers, and drive architectural excellence across a 40+ person organization.

In this Role, you'll get to

• Architect and own major backend systems from technical vision through implementation, building scalable microservices that serve millions of requests daily
• Lead large-scale cross-team technical initiatives that improve service quality, code quality, and system design
• Own technical direction across the backend organization - establishing engineering standards, influencing roadmaps, and leading by example through architecture reviews and hands-on mentorship
• Drive technical discovery from proof of concept through RFC development to reduce risk in complex problem areas and align teams on architectural decisions
• Drive organization-wide excellence in observability, testing, debugging, and software reliability through data-informed decisions
• Identify and implement optimizations across the stack to improve cost, efficiency, delivery velocity, and developer experience
• Communicate complex architectural trade-offs and business impact clearly to stakeholders and senior leadership
• Mentor and guide engineers, foster collaboration across teams, and build a culture of feedback and continuous improvement

What You'll Need to Succeed

• At least 10+ years' experience under your belt developing performance-critical applications that run in a production environment using Scala, Java, Kotlin, Python, Go, or C#.

• Demonstrate proven track record leading projects, initiatives, and teams with full end-to-end ownership of complex backend systems

  Exhibit strong expertise in data platforms and databases such as SQL, Cassandra, Hadoop, or equivalent - with ability
  to make informed trade-offs based on application requirements

  Possess solid understanding of algorithms, data structures, and system design fundamentals with demonstrated strong coding ability

  Show proven track record of enhancing team productivity and effectiveness through KPI-driven engineering metrics and data-informed decisions

  Demonstrate strong architectural skills and actively drive architectural decision-making within your team and across domains

  Exhibit passion for software craftsmanship, continuously improving your technical knowledge, and staying current with industry advancements

  Demonstrate excellent communication skills - articulate complex technical concepts and trade-offs clearly to both engineering teams and non-technical stakeholders

It's Great If You Have

• Experience with distributed systems, event-driven architecture, and Kafka or similar messaging platform
• Hands-on proficiency with SQL/NoSQL databases: Cassandra, MongoDB, or equivalent
• Cloud infrastructure experience: AWS, GCP, or Azure in production environments
• Broad engineering understanding across frontend, mobile, and data analytics domains
• Track record of open-source contributions or active engagement with engineering community
• Scrum/Agile experience at scale and working across distributed teams in multiple time zones

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