Staff Software Engineer I

Careem Networks FZ LLC; Dubai; On-site; AED 450,000 - 750,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

4 days in office + 1 day remote

Unlimited vacation days

Job summary

Careem is seeking a senior engineering leader who remains hands-on and writes code while shaping the engineering culture and technical foundations across the region. You will design scalable backend systems, define architectures, and apply AI/ML to unlock new capabilities, all while mentoring peers and driving product-backed technical decisions.

The role is hybrid, with in-office collaboration four days a week and one day remote, and includes opportunities to work from anywhere for limited

Qualifications

• Senior technology leader with experience building and scaling complex engineering systems.
• Hands-on IC leadership with coding, design, and execution.
• Experience implementing machine learning and AI-powered platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable, secure systems to boost productivity and reliability.
• Define architecture for backend systems with performance and modularity.
• Apply ML and AI to unlock capabilities and improve customer experiences.
• Shape roadmaps and drive technical decisions with product focus.
• Set code quality and operational excellence standards.
• Mentor engineers through pairing and code reviews.
• Automate CI/CD and observability workflows.
• Collaborate with platforms, product, security teams.
• Contribute to Careem's future in mobility and fintech through strong foundations.

Skills

Golang

System design

Data & AI

CI/CD

Code reviews

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

Careem is building the Everything App for the greater Middle East - making it easy to move around, order food and groceries, manage payments, and more. Our purpose is simple: to simplify and improve people’s lives and build an awesome organisation that inspires.
Since 2012, Careem has enabled earnings for over 2.5 million Captains, simplified the lives of more than 70 million customers, and built a platform where the region’s best talent and entrepreneurs thrive. We operate in 70+ cities across 10 countries, from Morocco to Pakistan.

We’re now entering our next chapter - one powered by AI. We’re looking for AI talent: curious problem-solvers who know how to apply AI to build tools, automate workflows, and create real impact. Whether it’s streamlining operations, enhancing customer experience, or reimagining internal systems - we want people who can make Careem work smarter and move faster.

About Careem

At Careem, our journey started with a simple purpose: to simplify and improve the lives of people in the Greater Middle East. From our beginnings as a ride-hailing service, we’ve grown into the region’s first Everything App, but our mission remains the same. We’re not just a tech company; we’re a team of builders, dreamers, and doers, working to create a better future for our region.

About the Role

Calling senior technology leaders to shape the future of engineering in the Middle East. We’re looking to connect with senior tech professionals who have built and scaled complex engineering systems, platforms, or infrastructure in high-growth tech environments. Your expertise is exactly what’s needed to shape the future of engineering culture and technical foundations in the region.

To be clear: this is a hands-on, individual-contributor leadership role - not a people-management position. We need someone who still writes code, designs systems, and leads through technical depth and execution, not through managing headcount.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Internal Engineering Initiatives: Personally design and build scalable, secure, and maintainable systems that accelerate engineering productivity and reliability across Careem.
• Architect Scalable Solutions: Define system architecture for complex backend systems with a focus on performance, modularity, and extensibility, leveraging deep expertise in Golang and modern platforms.
• Drive Impact in Data & AI: Apply machine learning, platformization, and agentic AI innovation to unlock new capabilities and improve customer experiences at scale.
• Product Mindset & Technical Influence: Shape roadmaps and drive technical decisions with a product-centric mindset, ensuring solutions directly impact customer and business outcomes.
• Technical Excellence & Culture: Set the bar for code quality, system design, testing, and operational excellence by writing and reviewing production code, and by example rather than management.
• Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing: Mentor engineers as a peer through pairing, code review, and design discussions, growing technical capability across the organization without formal reporting lines.
• Efficiency and Automation: Streamline workflows and reduce toil through automation in CI/CD, observability, and configuration management.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with other platforms, infrastructure, product, and security teams to deliver robust and aligned solutions.
• Long-term Vision & Purpose: Contribute to Careem’s mission of shaping the future of mobility, fintech, and everyday services in the region by building lasting technical foundations, hands-on.

What we’ll provide you

We offer colleagues the opportunity to drive impact in the region while they learn and grow. As a full time Careem colleague, you will be able to:

• Work and learn from great minds by joining a community of inspiring colleagues.
• Put your passion to work in a purposeful organisation dedicated to creating impact in a region with a lot of untapped potential.
• Explore new opportunities to learn and grow every day.
• Work 4 days a week in office & 1 day from home, and remotely from any country in the world for 30 days a year with unlimited vacation days per year. (If you are in an individual contributor role in tech, you will have 2 office days a week and 3 to work from home.)
• Access to healthcare benefits and fitness reimbursements for health activities including gym, health club, and training classes.

As outlined in Careem’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate based on any protected group status under any applicable law.

The collection of demographic information is for internal purposes only i.e. equal employment opportunity monitoring as well as diversity initiatives.