Staff Software Engineer I

Careem; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 367,000 - 478,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in the Middle East is seeking an experienced software developer to work on scalable backend applications. Responsibilities include mentoring junior engineers and improving code quality. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in software development, a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, and expertise in modern programming languages such as Java and Golang. Flexible working conditions and opportunities for professional growth are offered.

Benefits

Unlimited vacation days

Health benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software development experience.
• 5+ years mentoring software engineers.
• Strong understanding of scalable architectures.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build scalable backend applications.
• Write and review reliable code.
• Mentor junior team members.

Skills

Software development

Mentoring

CI/CD pipelines

Cloud-native architectures

Microservices

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Java Spring

Golang

Kotlin

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

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 this role

By applying here you will be considered for multiple similar positions within Careem across several teams and if you are successful we will match you to the best fit role based on your career and personal preferences.

What you`ll do

• Work closely with engineers across many teams to architect and build highly scalable and robust backend applications and services.
• Write and review high quality, performant and reliable code.
• Continuously improve the quality and reliability of services and help define and enhance the patterns and principles that the team follows.
• Become the subject matter expert in your area and collaborate closely with Product Managers to understand and refine functional specifications.
• Mentor and guide junior members of the team
• Participate in the on-call rotation and be willing to jump in and help resolve any incidents within the defined SLA.
• Participate in team agile and engineering practices and lead their continuous evolution.

What you`ll need

• 10+ years of professional software development experience.
• 5+ years of experience contributing to the design and architecture of new and existing services.
• 5+ years of experience mentoring software engineers.
• Strong understanding of highly scalable, cloud-native architectures and microservices.
• Experience in building and running CI/CD pipelines (preferably with GitHub Actions).
• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or other related technical field.
• Extensive experience working with at least one modern language such as Java, Golang, Kotlin.
• Experience designing and building large scale, distributed applications including making tradeoffs in architecture and functionality in a cloud environment.
• Experience operating production systems including defining metrics and processes for deploying changes to production reliably in live systems.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations.

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or other related technical field.
• Experience with Java Spring, Golang and AWS.
• Experience with Kafka.
• Experience working with container technology including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience working in a high-paced start-up environment.

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.