Staff Software Engineer I

careem; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 350,000 - 700,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Fitness reimbursements

Unlimited vacation

4 days in office / 1 day from home; 30

Job summary

Careem is seeking a senior, hands-on technology leader to architect and scale backend systems in the Middle East region. You will code, design, and lead initiatives that improve engineering productivity, reliability, and customer experiences at scale.

You will drive technical decisions with a product mindset, mentor peers, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to shape the future of Careem's platform and services across mobility, fintech, and everyday applications.

Qualifications

• Hands-on IC leadership experience in senior tech roles.
• Proven ability to design and scale backend systems.
• Experience with ML platforms and AI-driven workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead internal engineering initiatives and design scalable systems.
• Define architecture for complex backend platforms with Golang and modern platforms.
• Apply ML/AI platformization to improve customer experiences at scale.
• Shape roadmaps and drive technical decisions with a product-centric mindset.
• Uphold code quality, system design, testing, and operational excellence.

Skills

Golang

System design

Code quality

CI/CD

Observability

Mentorship

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

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

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

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