Senior Software Engineer

As a Senior Software Engineer at Toast, your primary responsibilities will include leading complex projects that enhance developer productivity and effectiveness. You'll participate in code reviews, troubleshoot and resolve production issues, and engage in architectural discussions to shape the technical roadmap. Additionally, you'll be an advocate for best coding practices and have a role in mentoring other engineers.

To qualify for the Senior Software Engineer position at Toast, candidates should possess strong expertise in Kotlin and Java, and familiarity with API standards such as OpenAPI, gRPC, or GraphQL. Experience in building backend API services within a product-oriented team is essential, along with knowledge of developer tools like AWS and Docker. Leadership experience in significant projects is also required.

Collaboration within the API Platform team at Toast involves working closely with a talented group of engineers and product managers. You’ll engage in regular discussions about architectural decisions, provide constructive feedback during code reviews, and actively participate in team meetings where ideas and challenges are shared, promoting a supportive and innovative environment.

Senior Software Engineers at Toast commonly utilize tools and technologies such as AWS for cloud infrastructure, Docker for containerization, and GitHub for version control. Familiarity with tools like Gradle, Kubernetes (K8s), and PostgreSQL is also beneficial, particularly for those looking to create seamless, robust API solutions.

Toast offers a comprehensive total rewards package that includes competitive compensation along with multiple benefits aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle. Their offerings include flexible benefits tailored to meet the diverse needs of employees, ensuring that everyone can thrive professionally and personally while contributing to the company’s mission.

When answering this question, highlight specific projects where you utilized API development. Emphasize your knowledge of API standards, such as OpenAPI or GraphQL, and describe how you contributed to creating robust, scalable backend services. Be sure to mention any relevant tools you used and explain the impact of your work on the team or product.

In your response, share your philosophy on code reviews. Discuss the importance of constructive feedback, collaboration, and learning from peers. Provide examples of how you've contributed to code reviews in the past, emphasizing the value of best practices and high-quality coding standards you advocate for within your team.

Discuss a specific project where you took the lead, emphasizing the technical decisions you made and how they shaped the project’s outcome. Explain the challenges involved and how you overcame them. Include any insights you gained that will resonate with Toast's mission and focus on continuous improvement.

Demonstrate your commitment to continuous learning. Talk about the blogs you read, courses you take, or communities you engage with online. Mention how keeping up-to-date with trends informs your work, and provide specific examples of new technologies you've recently integrated into your projects.

Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to structure your answer. Describe the challenging problem, what your role was, the actions you took to address it, and the ultimate outcome. Highlight your analytical skills and how your solution benefited the team or user experience.

Discuss your familiarity with CI/CD workflows. Explain how you've implemented CI/CD practices in past projects, including specific tools and frameworks you’ve used. Share the benefits that CI/CD brought to your teams, such as improved software quality and faster deployment cycles.

When answering this question, describe your approach to developing maintainable and scalable code. Discuss principles such as writing clean, modular code, utilizing design patterns, and implementing thorough documentation. Provide examples of how these practices resulted in improved team collaboration and reduced technical debt.

Share your approach to mentorship, emphasizing the importance of facilitating growth and fostering a learning environment. Describe instances where you helped junior developers improve their skills, and highlight the positive impact this had on the team and project outcomes. Mention specific mentoring methods you prefer.

Explain your strategies for time management and prioritization, particularly in a remote setting. Discuss tools and techniques you use to stay organized, how you communicate with team members, and how you ensure productivity while balancing multiple projects and deadlines.

Your answer should reflect your alignment with Toast’s mission to empower restaurants and improve their operations through technology. Discuss specific aspects of Toast that resonate with you, such as their commitment to developer experience, their innovative approach to API development, or how their values align with your personal and career goals.