Backend Engineer – Payments Platform Development

The Elite Job; Dubai; Remote; AED 320,000 - 520,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Compensation

Flexible Work Options

Professional Development

Learning Resources

Career Advancement

Collaborative Environment

Modern Engineering Practices

Performance Recognition

Leave and Holidays

Employee Well-Being

Meaningful Technical Challenges

Job summary

The Elite Job is seeking a Backend Engineer for its Payments Platform Development. You will design, develop, test, and deploy secure backend systems that support digital payment processing, settlement, and reconciliation.

You will work with Java, Python, Go, Node.js, or TypeScript to build RESTful APIs and microservices, ensuring data integrity, PCI DSS considerations, and scalable performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Cloud platforms experience is advantageous.
• Payments/fintech experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services for payment platforms.
• Build secure, well-documented APIs and microservices.
• Ensure reliability, testing, and performance optimization.
• Collaborate with product, security, and QA teams.

Skills

Java

Python

Go

Node.js

TypeScript

API development

Backend architecture

REST APIs

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

Equivalent practical experience or relevant certifications

Cloud, cybersecurity, distributed systems, or fintech qualifications advantageous

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

CI/CD

Job description

Job Summary

The Elite Job is seeking a skilled and motivated Backend Engineer - Payments Platform Development to join our growing technology team. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining secure, scalable, and high-performance backend systems that support digital payment processing and financial transactions.

In this role, you will contribute to the development of reliable payment infrastructure, including payment processing services, transaction management systems, payment gateway integrations, refund workflows, settlement processes, and financial reconciliation tools. You will collaborate with frontend developers, product managers, quality assurance engineers, security specialists, and other stakeholders to deliver seamless payment experiences for customers and business partners.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of backend programming, API development, database management, distributed systems, and payment processing concepts. You should be comfortable working with complex technical requirements, identifying performance bottlenecks, troubleshooting production issues, and implementing solutions that protect sensitive financial information.

At The Elite Job, we value innovation, technical excellence, accountability, and continuous learning. This position offers an opportunity to work on meaningful engineering challenges while contributing to the development of dependable digital payment solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Backend Application Development

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend applications and services that support payment platform operations.
• Write clean, maintainable, reusable, and well-documented code using programming languages such as Java, Python, Go, JavaScript, TypeScript, or similar technologies.
• Develop reliable business logic for payment initiation, authorization, capture, refunds, cancellations, and transaction status management.
• Build modular services that support future product enhancements and increasing transaction volumes.
• Apply established software engineering principles, design patterns, and coding standards throughout the development lifecycle.

Payment Processing and Integration

• Develop and maintain integrations with payment gateways, payment service providers, acquiring banks, and other financial technology partners.
• Implement secure APIs for payment creation, transaction verification, refund requests, and payment status updates.
• Support payment methods such as cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and other locally available payment options, where applicable.
• Implement idempotency mechanisms to prevent duplicate payment processing when requests are retried.
• Design reliable workflows for asynchronous payment notifications, webhooks, transaction retries, and failure recovery.
• Investigate and resolve payment failures, transaction inconsistencies, and integration-related issues.
• Support settlement processing, transaction reconciliation, and accurate financial recordkeeping.

API Design and System Architecture

• Design RESTful APIs and, where appropriate, event-driven interfaces for internal and external payment services.
• Develop scalable microservices and distributed applications that support high availability and reliable transaction processing.
• Establish appropriate validation, error-handling, authentication, authorization, and rate-limiting mechanisms.
• Document API specifications, integration requirements, system dependencies, and technical decisions.
• Collaborate with architects and senior engineers to evaluate design alternatives and improve system reliability.

Database and Data Management

• Design, optimize, and maintain relational and non-relational databases used by payment applications.
• Work with technologies such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, or comparable database systems.
• Develop efficient queries, indexes, and data access patterns to support high-volume transaction processing.
• Maintain data consistency, transaction integrity, audit trails, and accurate payment records.
• Apply appropriate backup, recovery, retention, and access-control practices.
• Support financial reconciliation by identifying discrepancies between internal transaction records and payment provider reports.

Security, Compliance, and Risk Management

• Follow secure coding practices and help protect payment data, customer information, and transaction records.
• Implement appropriate encryption, secrets management, access controls, and authentication mechanisms.
• Work with security teams to address vulnerabilities and improve application security.
• Support payment security requirements, including applicable PCI DSS controls when cardholder data environments are involved.
• Avoid storing sensitive authentication data unnecessarily and follow approved tokenization and payment-provider integration practices.
• Contribute to fraud prevention through integration with approved risk-scoring, transaction-monitoring, and verification services.
• Assist with security reviews, audit requirements, incident investigations, and compliance-related technical improvements.

Testing and Quality Assurance

• Develop unit tests, integration tests, API tests, and automated regression tests for backend services.
• Validate payment scenarios involving successful transactions, failed authorizations, duplicate requests, timeouts, refunds, and provider outages.
• Participate in code reviews and provide constructive feedback to improve code quality.
• Work closely with quality assurance engineers to identify defects and ensure reliable releases.
• Conduct performance and load testing to assess system behaviour under peak transaction volumes.
• Verify that payment workflows remain accurate and consistent across different operating conditions.

Performance and Reliability

• Monitor backend services and identify performance bottlenecks, resource constraints, and operational risks.
• Improve application response times, throughput, database efficiency, and infrastructure utilization.
• Design systems that can recover safely from temporary service interruptions and external provider failures.
• Implement suitable logging, metrics, distributed tracing, and alerting mechanisms.
• Participate in incident response, root-cause analysis, and corrective action planning.
• Help maintain service availability and reliability through continuous monitoring and proactive maintenance.

Collaboration and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with product managers, frontend engineers, DevOps specialists, QA teams, and business stakeholders.
• Translate business requirements into practical technical solutions and development plans.
• Participate in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, technical discussions, and retrospective meetings.
• Review technical documentation and contribute to engineering standards and best practices.
• Research emerging backend technologies, payment industry developments, and opportunities for automation.
• Share knowledge with team members and contribute to a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Educational Qualifications

• A bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline is preferred.
• Equivalent practical experience, relevant technical certifications, or a strong portfolio of backend development projects may also be considered.
• Additional qualifications in cloud computing, cybersecurity, distributed systems, or financial technology are advantageous.

Technical Skills

• Strong programming knowledge in at least one backend language, such as Java, Python, Go, Node.js, or TypeScript.
• Experience designing, developing, and maintaining backend applications and APIs.
• Good understanding of REST APIs, HTTP protocols, JSON, authentication, and authorization.
• Knowledge of relational databases, SQL, indexing, transactions, and data modelling.
• Familiarity with asynchronous processing, message queues, event-driven architectures, and distributed systems.
• Understanding of concurrency, transaction consistency, fault tolerance, and reliable error handling.
• Experience using Git or another version control system.
• Familiarity with automated testing frameworks and continuous integration practices.
• Basic knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, or comparable container technologies is beneficial.
• Understanding of cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud is an advantage.

Payments Domain Knowledge

• Understanding of the payment lifecycle, including authorization, capture, settlement, refunds, and chargebacks.
• Familiarity with payment gateways, payment service providers, and third-party financial integrations.
• Knowledge of idempotency, duplicate transaction prevention, webhook verification, and payment status reconciliation.
• Awareness of PCI DSS, data protection requirements, and secure handling of payment-related information.
• Understanding of payment failure scenarios, retry strategies, and transaction monitoring.
• Familiarity with payment protocols, tokenization, or fraud prevention systems is an advantage.

Professional Qualifications

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent attention to detail, especially when working with financial transactions and sensitive data.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively to a collaborative engineering team.
• Commitment to code quality, security, documentation, and continuous learning.
• Ability to manage priorities and deliver reliable solutions within agreed timelines.

Experience

Junior Backend Engineer

• Approximately 0-2 years of relevant experience, including internships or substantial project work.
• Basic understanding of backend development, databases, APIs, and software testing.
• Demonstrated ability to build and troubleshoot simple backend applications.
• Willingness to learn payment systems, secure coding practices, and production engineering workflows.

Mid-Level Backend Engineer

• Typically 2-5 years of professional backend development experience.
• Demonstrated experience developing production-ready APIs, integrating external services, and maintaining databases.
• Experience with automated testing, debugging, performance optimization, and deployment workflows.
• Previous experience with payments, e-commerce, banking, or financial technology systems is highly desirable.

Senior Backend Engineer

• Typically 5 or more years of relevant software engineering experience.
• Strong experience designing distributed backend systems and handling reliability challenges.
• Proven ability to lead technical discussions, review architecture, and mentor other engineers.
• Experience with high-volume transaction processing, payment integrations, security controls, or financial reconciliation is a significant advantage.
• Candidates with strong transferable skills and relevant project experience may be considered even if they do not meet every preferred experience requirement.

Working Hours

Employment Schedule: Full-time, generally 40 hours per week, subject to applicable employment policies.

Working Days: Typically Monday to Friday, depending on team schedules and operational requirements.

Work Arrangement: Remote, hybrid, or office-based, depending on the specific position and company requirements.

Flexible Scheduling: Flexible working arrangements may be available where compatible with team collaboration and delivery commitments.

Meetings: Participation in engineering meetings, sprint planning, code reviews, and project discussions is expected.

Production Support: Occasional participation in scheduled on-call rotations or incident response may be required for payment systems that operate continuously.

Time Zones: Candidates may need to coordinate with colleagues, customers, or payment service providers in different time zones.

Specific working hours, shift arrangements, and on-call expectations will be communicated during the recruitment process.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of backend architecture, software development principles, and API lifecycle management.
• Knowledge of database transactions, consistency, concurrency, and reliable data processing.
• Understanding of distributed systems, asynchronous communication, caching, and service resilience.
• Awareness of application security, encryption, authentication, and sensitive data protection.
• Ability to understand payment workflows and the technical requirements of financial integrations.
• Familiarity with monitoring, logging, deployment automation, and production support practices.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Abilities

• Ability to analyse complex technical problems and identify their root causes.
• Capacity to investigate failed transactions and distinguish between application, network, database, and payment-provider issues.
• Ability to evaluate trade-offs involving performance, scalability, security, cost, and maintainability.
• Skill in translating business requirements into practical and measurable engineering outcomes.
• Ability to identify recurring issues and recommend long-term improvements rather than relying solely on temporary fixes.

Communication and Teamwork

• Ability to explain technical concepts clearly to engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Willingness to participate in code reviews and constructive technical discussions.
• Ability to document system behaviour, API contracts, and troubleshooting procedures.
• Strong collaboration skills when working across engineering, product, operations, and compliance teams.
• Ability to share technical knowledge and support the professional development of colleagues.

Work Ethic and Professional Approach

• High standards of accuracy, integrity, and accountability.
• A security-conscious approach to software development and financial data handling.
• Ability to work effectively in a changing technical environment.
• Commitment to meeting deadlines without compromising essential quality or security standards.
• Proactive attitude toward learning, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Strong ownership of assigned tasks, from initial development through deployment and ongoing maintenance.

Benefits

• Competitive Compensation: Salary based on skills, experience, responsibilities, and market conditions.
• Flexible Work Options: Remote or hybrid working opportunities where available for the position.
• Professional Development: Opportunities to develop expertise in backend engineering, cloud infrastructure, payment technologies, and system architecture.
• Learning Resources: Access to technical documentation, training resources, workshops, and knowledge-sharing sessions where provided.
• Career Advancement: Opportunities to progress into senior engineering, technical leadership, platform architecture, or engineering management roles.
• Collaborative Environment: Opportunities to work with professionals across engineering, product, quality assurance, security, and operations.
• Modern Engineering Practices: Exposure to code reviews, automated testing, continuous integration, monitoring, and scalable system design.
• Performance Recognition: Opportunities for recognition based on contributions, engineering quality, and achievement of agreed objectives.
• Leave and Holidays: Paid leave and holidays in accordance with applicable employment policies and local regulations.
• Employee Well-Being: Access to available well-being initiatives and work-life balance support, depending on company policy.
• Meaningful Technical Challenges: Opportunities to solve problems involving reliability, transaction accuracy, system security, and payment performance.
• All benefits, allowances, insurance provisions, and incentive arrangements will be confirmed in the official employment offer.

Why Join The Elite Job?

Joining The Elite Job as a Backend Engineer - Payments Platform Development offers an opportunity to contribute to technology that supports reliable and efficient digital transactions.

Build Important Financial Technology: Work on backend services that help enable payment processing, transaction management, and seamless digital commerce experiences.

Solve Complex Engineering Problems: Address practical challenges involving distributed systems, transaction consistency, API reliability, performance optimization, and secure data processing.

Develop Your Technical Expertise: Strengthen your skills in modern backend programming, cloud infrastructure, automated testing, and payment platform architecture.

Contribute to Product Quality: Help build systems where reliability, accuracy, and security are essential to customer confidence and business operations.

Collaborate Across Teams: Work with professionals from engineering, product, quality assurance, security, and operations to deliver integrated solutions.

Grow Your Career: Build a foundation for future opportunities in senior software engineering, payment infrastructure, platform engineering, technical architecture, or engineering leadership.

Make Continuous Improvement a Priority: Contribute ideas, improve development processes, and help create backend services that remain maintainable as business requirements evolve.

At The Elite Job, we seek professionals who combine technical ability with curiosity, responsibility, and a commitment to engineering excellence. If you enjoy building dependable systems and solving challenging backend problems, we encourage you to apply.