Senior Software Engineer — Real-Time Ad Serving

Meyandy LLC; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 90.000 - 120.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Zeta Global is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for the LiveIntent Real-Time Ad Serving team. You will design, develop, and own business logic powering programmatic advertising at scale, primarily in Lua, with C++ on the server framework.

Work is hands-on and production‑oriented, influencing ad targeting, delivery, and reporting. The role requires 5+ years in backend engineering, strong CS fundamentals, and comfort with distributed systems.

Qualifikationen

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• Strong CS fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, and performance optimization.
• Experience building and operating distributed systems in production.
• Familiarity with the full SDLC from design to production and monitoring.
• Commitment to code quality, automated testing, and documentation.
• Proficient English; interview in English.
• Experience with Lua or willingness to learn.
• Experience in online advertising / ad tech is a plus.
• Proficiency in C++, Go, Rust, or Java is a plus.
• Experience with MongoDB and real-time data processing is a plus.
• Experience with AWS cloud infrastructure at scale is a plus.
• Experience with OpenRTB protocol and ad exchanges is a plus.

Aufgaben

• Develop and optimize business logic in Lua for ad selection, targeting, and pacing.
• Design and maintain real-time services handling 200K+ requests per second.
• Collaborate with Product to deliver features for advertisers and publishers.
• Ensure code quality via reviews, automated tests, and CI.
• Participate in architecture discussions and define the technical roadmap.
• Join on-call rotations to support production systems.

Kenntnisse

Backend development

Distributed systems

Data structures

Algorithms

Performance optimization

Automated testing

CI/CD

English proficiency

Tools

Lua

C++

Go

Rust

Jobbeschreibung

WHO WE ARE

Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. To learn more, go to www.zetaglobal.com.

THE ROLE

As a Senior Software Engineer on the LiveIntent Real-Time Ad Serving team, you will design, develop, and own the business logic that powers programmatic advertising at scale — ad selection, targeting, frequency capping, budget pacing, and delivery optimization.

The real-time platform is built on C++ and Lua: C++ provides the high-performance server framework, while Lua implements the business logic layer. You will work primarily in Lua, developing and evolving the features that directly serve LiveIntent's product — ensuring advertisers get the best outcomes and publishers maximize their revenue. While we're open to candidates with experience in any backend language, a willingness to work with Lua is essential — we provide time and the right environment to get up to speed.

You will collaborate closely with Product, working on features that directly impact LiveIntent's customers — from ad targeting and delivery to reporting and optimization. This is a hands-on engineering role where your code runs in production handling billions of daily transactions.

This is a hybrid/remote role based out of our Berlin, Germany or Prague, Czech Republic offices.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and optimize business logic in Lua for ad selection, targeting, frequency capping, and budget pacing
• Design, build, and maintain real-time services processing 200K+ requests per second with strict latency requirements
• Work closely with Product to deliver features that meet advertiser and publisher needs
• Ensure code quality through code reviews, automated testing, and continuous integration
• Participate in architecture discussions and influence the technical roadmap
• Participate in on-call rotation to support production systems

DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS

• 5+ years of software engineering experience in backend development
• Deep understanding of computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, performance optimization
• Experience building and operating distributed systems in production
• Exposure to the full software development lifecycle — from design to production and monitoring
• Strong commitment to code quality, automated testing, and documentation
• Proficient English (the interview process will be held in English)
• Experience with Lua or willingness to learn (we provide time and the right environment)
• Experience in online advertising / ad tech (RTB, programmatic, DSP/SSP) is a plus
• Proficiency in a systems-level language (C++, Go, Rust, or Java) is a plus
• Experience with MongoDB and real-time data processing is a plus
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS) at scale is a plus
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools and agentic workflows is a plus
• Experience with OpenRTB protocol and ad exchange integrations is a plus