Senior Software Engineer – Backend

Rivr; Zürich; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivr, part of Amazon, seeks a Senior Backend Engineer to design, develop and operate cloud-native backend systems powering our robotics delivery platform. You will build robust microservices, integrate with customer systems, and optimize KPI data pipelines.

You will collaborate with frontend, robotics, and infra teams to deliver scalable, reliable features while participating in on-call rotations and shaping architecture.

Qualifications

• Approximately 5 years of professional backend experience in SOA environments.
• Production experience with Typescript, Java, C++ and/or Python.
• Service decomposition and API design are required.
• Experience with RPC, publish/subscribe, and event-driven patterns.
• Hands-on with at least two database technologies; understands consistency vs availability.
• Proven track record with one major cloud provider, AWS strongly preferred.
• Experience integrating with complex third-party APIs and building distributed workflows.
• Experience building event-driven applications and data processing pipelines (e.g., Kafka).
• Business-minded, ownership-focused, and capable of on-call rotations.
• Excellent communication across diverse technical teams; observability tooling is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement backend services for integrating RIVR's platform with customer systems.
• Develop and enhance the backend infrastructure for robot operations platform.
• Build components to aggregate KPIs and provide platform insights.
• Contribute to architecture, reliability, and scalability in a containerized microservices context.
• Collaborate closely with frontend, robotics, and infrastructure engineers to deliver end-to-end features.

Skills

Backend languages

Service decomposition

API design

Event-driven

Databases

Cloud platforms

Third-party APIs

Distributed workflows

On-call ownership

Observability tooling

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

RIVR, part of Amazon is a robotics company pioneering Physical AI through real-world doorstep delivery. Founded in 2024 as an ETH Zurich spin-off, RIVR developed wheeled-legged robots designed to operate in complex, unstructured environments such as stairs, gates, doors, and uneven urban terrain. We believe that achieving general physical intelligence requires solving real customer problems in the real world, where robots can learn from rich operational data at scale.

Following our acquisition by Amazon in March 2026, we are continuing this mission with greater reach and speed. By combining custom robot hardware, onboard autonomy, and cloud-based coordination, RIVR, part of Amazon is building the next generation of safe, reliable autonomous robots for last-mile delivery

Job Description

As our next Senior Backend Engineer you will focus on the design, development, and operation of the server-side systems that power our cutting-edge robotics delivery platform. This role involves building robust, scalable microservices and integrations crucial for fleet operations, process integrations, and data processing in a cloud-native environment. You will play a key part in translating complex business requirements into reliable and efficient backend solutions.

What you’ll be doing

• Design and implement backend services for integrating RIVR's platform with our customers’ systems, to provide delightful delivery experiences.
• Develop and enhance the backend infrastructure for our robot operations platform.
• Develop backend components to aggregate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), providing insights into platform performance and business value.
• Contribute to the overall architecture, reliability, and scalability of our backend systems within a containerized microservices context.
• Collaborate closely with frontend, robotics, and infrastructure engineers to deliver end-to-end features

What you must have

• Approximately 5 years of professional experience designing, building, deploying, and operating backend systems in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) context. You have production experience with:

• Strong experience with Typescript, Java, C++ and/or Python

• Service decomposition.

• API design.

• Different interaction patterns (e.g. RPC, publish/subscribe, event-driven).

• At least two database technologies

• Trading off consistency for availability/performance.

• Proven experience (5+ major services) with at least one major cloud provider (AWS strongly preferred).

• Demonstrable experience in at least one of the following areas:

• Integrating with complex third-party APIs and building reliable, distributed workflows (e.g., using task queues, state machines).

• Building event-driven applications and/or scalable data processing pipelines (e.g., using Kafka, message queues, serverless functions).

• A business-oriented mindset, with a focus on leveraging technology to solve concrete problems and deliver value.

• A strong sense of ownership, comfortable venturing beyond immediate expertise to understand and solve problems effectively.

• The ability to earn trust by providing and receiving candid, constructive feedback.

• Willingness to participate in on-call rotations to ensure the reliability of our production systems.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical ideas clearly and drive mutual understanding across teams with diverse technical backgrounds.

Get some bonus points

• Familiarity configuring and operating CI/CD pipelines.

• Background in robotics, IoT, fleet management, or real-time data streaming systems.

• Strong familiarity with observability such as OTLP, Grafana, prometheus, etc preferably in the context of devices with intermittent connectivity

We believe the best work is done when collaborating and therefore require in-person presence in our office locations.