Junior Back End Engineer

Common Wealth Retirement; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental and vision benefits

Health Spending Account

5% retirement plan match

Home office stipend

Learning & Development budget

Flex holidays and Summer Fridays

Job summary

Common Wealth Retirement is seeking a Junior Back End Engineer to help build and scale our retirement platform. You will focus on backend systems using Java/Kotlin, PostgreSQL, and AWS, with opportunities to contribute to the frontend (React/TypeScript).

We value engineers who learn quickly and collaborate with product and design to create robust, scalable solutions. You may work with AI-assisted coding tools and participate in a DevOps‑driven development process, delivering features end‑to‑end

Qualifications

• 1+ year experience in Java and/or Kotlin with production systems.
• Experience with relational databases, notably PostgreSQL.
• Exposure to cloud infrastructure (AWS) and DevOps concepts.
• Frontend exposure with React and TypeScript is a plus.
• Comfort with AI-assisted coding tools and modern CI/CD practices.
• Ability to collaborate with product/design and deliver within milestones.

Responsibilities

• Write, maintain and deliver code that delivers business objectives.
• Apply testing frameworks and write unit/integration tests.
• Embrace a DevOps philosophy, with focus on production performance, cost, and security.
• Drive project delivery within a cross-functional team and shape technical requirements.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

PostgreSQL

AWS

React

TypeScript

DevOps

AI-assisted coding tools

Tools

AWS CDK

Docker

ECS

Fargate

RDS PostgreSQL

S3

DynamoDB

Lambda@Edge

Cognito

Job description

Common Wealth exists to make retirement security accessible to all Canadians. As Canada’s fastest-growing group retirement provider, we serve over 1,700 employers across the country and are helping tens of thousands of Canadians build long-term financial security. Our award-winning retirement technology and services platform makes it easy for employers of all sizes to offer competitive retirement benefits, empowers members to build wealth with confidence, and equips advisors with tools to better serve their clients. We work closely with a rapidly expanding network of advisors, for whom we strive to be a true partner in powering the growth of their business.

About the role

We are looking for a Junior Back End Engineer to join Common Wealth’s engineering team. You will play a key role in contributing to building and scaling the technology that powers our retirement platform to help us drive toward a future where every Canadian can achieve financial security in retirement. Experience in fintech is a strong plus.

This role focuses on the back end - building robust, scalable systems with Java/Kotlin, PostgreSQL, and AWS. If you're also comfortable working full stack (React/TypeScript on the front end), even better. We value engineers who move fluidly across the stack and collaborate closely with product and design.

What you will do:

• Write, maintain and deliver code that delivers business objectives. You build product with a strong understanding of both customer and business needs. You will think critically about data modeling, service architecture, and long-term maintainability. You’ll balance short‑term speed with thoughtful investment in areas that are core to the platform.
• Apply testing frameworks. All developers are responsible for the quality of the product, and to that end are responsible for writing their own unit and integration tests. You will help to continuously improve our test quality to maintain the stability of our platform.
• Embrace a DevOps philosophy . Engineers are expected to understand how their code runs in production and to consider cost, scalability, monitoring, and security - you'll learn our infrastructure‑as‑code setup and grow into building within it.
• Project delivery. Work within a talented cross‑functional team, collaborating closely with product and design. You will help shape technical requirements, brainstorm solutions, break down deliverables into milestones, and drive timelines to completion.

Who you are:

You may not have touched our exact frameworks or tooling and that's fine - we care more that you have a solid foundation and are able to learn fast than that you arrive knowing ours.

• Foundation as back end engineer. You have previous experience through co‑op / internship or 1+ year full time experience and you’ve worked on production systems in Java and/or Kotlin , using relational databases like PostgreSQL .
• End‑to‑end mindset. You think about solutions beyond a single layer — data modeling, backend logic, and how it all integrates with the frontend. You've had some hands‑on exposure to cloud infrastructure (AWS a plus), and bonus points if you're comfortable working across the stack with React and TypeScript.
• Comfortable with AI‑assisted coding tools. You leverage AI tools as part of your normal workflow and understand their strengths and limitations. You review, test, and take ownership of AI‑generated output.
• Impact driven. Your work goes beyond the code you write. You seek to understand the business side and how the applications you build directly contribute to the success of the organization and excite our users.
• Thrive in collaboration. You believe that great products are built through teamwork. You work closely with product and design teams, keeping an open channel for continuous feedback and collaboration that makes the product better.
• Curious and self‑directed learner. You’re comfortable navigating ambiguity and are motivated to explore, learn, and grow. You stay on top of emerging tools that enhance your technical foundation.
• Infrastructure on AWS: IaC with CDK, Docker, ECS, Fargate, RDS Aurora / PostgreSQL, S3, DynamoDB, CloudFront, Lambda@Edge, Cognito, GuardDuty
• Other Tools: Datadog, LaunchDarkly, LogRocket

Why work with us:

Working at Common Wealth provides you the opportunity to work in a high‑growth business that is changing the lives of Canadians. In addition to a competitive salary of $80,000 - 100,000, you will receive health and dental benefits, life insurance, a Health Spending Account, a 5% employer match into one of our award‑winning group retirement plans, and four weeks of vacation. Our growing team combines deep expertise in the key disciplines necessary to help our customers achieve retirement success.

• Join a mission‑driven company transforming retirement in Canada
• High‑growth environment with autonomy and meaningful career growth opportunities
• Salary range: $80,000 – 100,000
• Medical, dental and vision benefits
• Health Spending Account
• 5% employer match into our group retirement plan
• Home Office Stipend
• Annual Learning & Development Budget
• Flex Holiday and Summer Friday Program
• Annual Company Summit