Senior Backend Engineer, Mobile Team

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Via, you'll be responsible for the entire lifecycle of product features, including implementing microservices, overseeing development and maintenance, participating in agile software development, and ensuring application performance and uptime. You'll have the opportunity to drive technical decisions that influence system architecture and contribute to optimizing backend systems for our mobile users.

To qualify for the Senior Backend Engineer position at Via, candidates should possess a minimum of 6 years of backend development experience and at least 5 years of hands-on work with programming languages such as Python, C++, and Java or C#. A strong foundation in data structures, multi-threading, object-oriented programming, and design patterns, along with experience in scaling distributed products, is essential.

Senior Backend Engineers at Via should be well-versed in programming languages including Python, C++, and Java or C#. Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS and Kubernetes is also required, alongside experience with SQL/MySQL for performance optimization. Building and implementing microservices in a rapid development environment is a critical part of the role.

At Via, we foster a collaborative and innovative work culture that encourages independence and proactive engagement. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you’ll work in a cross-functional, geographically distributed team environment, which allows for diverse perspectives and creative problem-solving. Clear communication is valued, and every voice matters as we collectively strive to elevate public transportation.

As a Senior Backend Engineer at Via, your impact will be significant. You’ll make key technical decisions that shape the future of our products, enhance the user experience for millions, and contribute to reducing global environmental footprints. Your work will help advance Via’s mission to create modern, efficient public transportation systems that improve access to essential services.

When answering this question, provide specific examples of projects where you implemented microservices. Highlight your understanding of service isolation, communication methods, and how microservices contribute to scalability and resilience in backend systems.

Discuss your testing strategies, including unit testing, integration testing, and code reviews. Explain how these practices help maintain high code quality and prevent issues in production, demonstrating your commitment to delivering reliable software.

Share techniques such as indexing, query optimization, and profiling that you've used to enhance database performance. Illustrate your approach with a concrete example where you successfully improved application performance through database optimizations.

Emphasize your communication skills and tools you use to facilitate collaboration. Discuss how you overcome time zone differences, maintain accountability, and ensure alignment across teams to deliver successful outcomes.

Detail a few design patterns you commonly implement, such as Singleton, Factory, or Observer. Explain how they've helped solve specific problems or improved the structure of your code, showcasing your design knowledge.

Select a specific project where your architectural decision led to a positive outcome. Discuss the factors you considered, alternatives you evaluated, and the end results of that decision to illustrate your critical thinking and impact.

Provide examples of how you've used AWS services for deploying applications, managing databases, or scaling infrastructure. Share your proficiency with Kubernetes in container orchestration and how these tools have enhanced your project performance.

Discuss your commitment to continuous learning by attending conferences, participating in meetups, or following tech blogs and forums. Mention specific resources you find valuable and how you apply that knowledge to your work at Via.

Outline your systematic approach to identifying and resolving production issues, including monitoring tools, logging, debugging techniques, and how you prioritize fixes based on user impact and importance.

Describe your process for prioritizing tasks based on factors like impact, urgency, and team goals. Share how you collaborate with stakeholders to ensure alignment and contribute to a successful sprint review.