Senior Software Engineer (Backend)

KING; City Of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading gaming company is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to design and develop scalable Advertising & Monetization platforms. You will work with cross-functional teams, lead projects, and mentor junior engineers. Ideal candidates have extensive experience in Java, microservices, and cloud environments, with a passion for developing high-performance backend systems.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience leading the development of high-performance microservices in Java.
• Strong understanding of large-scale distributed backend systems.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to work in a collaborative team environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop a highly scalable Advertising & Monetization platform.
• Collaborate with architects and engineers to craft backend systems.
• Mentor and support junior engineers.

Skills

Java

NoSQL systems

AdTech platforms

Cloud services (GCP, AWS, Azure)

Interpersonal skills

Microservices

Performance engineering

Education

BA/BS degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Jenkins

Job description

Overview

Activision Blizzard Media is the gateway for brands to the #1 cross-platform gaming company in the western world, with hundreds of millions of players across over 190 countries. Our legendary portfolio includes iconic mobile game franchises such as Candy Crush, esports opportunities like the Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues, and some of the top PC and console gaming franchises such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and StarCraft. The idea is simple: great game experiences offer great marketing experiences.

We are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer in our Ads Engineering team, empowering groundbreaking mobile advertising technologies to create the next generation of our Ads Platform.

Your role within King

Do you want to build amazing high scale backend systems for Advertising using the latest technologies? Are you an excellent communicator who enjoys working with people from several different business units? Can you translate business needs into technical requirements and implementation? If you answered yes, then our Senior Backend Engineer role on our ads engineering team may be the right role for you!

Your role within Activision Blizzard Media

Your role involves designing and developing a highly scalable, available, and reliable Ads & Monetization platform capable of handling billions of requests daily. You collaborate with architects and fellow engineers to craft backend systems while working closely with product and peer engineering teams on cross-functional projects. In addition, you partner with DevOps engineers to ensure operational excellence and exhibit a genuine curiosity for mentoring junior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop a highly scalable, highly available, and highly reliable Advertising & Monetization platform handling billions of requests per day.
• Understand the business requirements and translate them into the development/design tasks.
• Collaborate with architects and engineers to craft and architect backend systems.
• Partner with Product and peer engineering teams on multi-functional projects.
• Work with DevOps engineers to ensure operational excellence.
• Mentor and support junior engineers with a genuine interest in their development.
• Choose the right technology stack to align with those use cases with scalability.
• Develop alert & monitoring systems and procedures for faster disaster recovery.
• Provide technical directions and mentor other specialists and engineers

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in Computer Science, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience leading the development of high-performance microservices in Java.
• Strong understanding of large-scale distributed backend systems
• Experience with AdTech platforms (e.g., AdServing, Demand Side Platform).
• Proficiency in NoSQL systems (e.g., DynamoDB, Cassandra, HBase).
• Experience in a cloud-based environment with GCP, Azure or AWS.
• Expert knowledge in Java, JMeter, and performance engineering.
• Experience with streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka, Kinesis, Flink).
• Experience in designing cohesive frontend and backend architecture.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to work in a collaborative team environment.
• Ability to work independently with limited guidance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge and experience in CI/CD, test automation, Jenkins, Gradle, and related technologies.
• Experience with open-source technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Passion for usability, maintainability, and quality, with a focus on long-term solutions.

More about you

• You are passionate about a culture of learning and teaching. You love challenging yourself to constantly improve, and sharing your knowledge to empower others.
• You like to take risks when looking for novel solutions to complex problems. If faced with roadblocks, you continue to reach higher to make greatness happen.
• You care about solving big, systemic problems. You look beyond the surface to understand root causes so that you can build long-term solutions for the whole ecosystem.
• You believe in not only serving customers but also empowering them by providing knowledge and tools.

About Activision Blizzard Media

Activision Blizzard Media is the gateway for brands to the #1 cross-platform gaming company in the western world, with hundreds of millions of players across over 190 countries. Our legendary portfolio includes iconic mobile game franchises such as Candy Crush, esports opportunities like the Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues, and some of the top PC and console gaming franchises such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and StarCraft. The idea is simple: great game experiences offer great marketing experiences.

A Great Saga Needs All Sorts of Heroes

King strives to be a place where everyone can be their most authentic self. We recognize that diversity, equity and inclusion is a vital and continuous conversation, and that change only happens when we all come together. It’s our mission to build a diverse and inclusive Kingdom for our people, players, and community.

Making the World Playful

Making the World Playful is our mission – it’s the thread that connects our people, our players, and our passion for our games. Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a bit of fun?

Kingsters are seriously playful: creative thinkers who balance art and science to bring moments of magic to millions daily. But our players aren’t the only ones that can level-up. We’re always looking for ways to champion each other and make what’s already great, even better.

So, if this feels like a fun way to spend your days, and you share our passion, our values, and our hunger to shape the future, join us in Making the World Playful.

Applications needs to be in English.

Discover King at careers.king.com