Staff Backend Engineer

Memrise; London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Memrise is seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to lead the design and development of its language learning platform. This role focuses on architecting a scalable and reliable system using event-driven architecture. The ideal candidate will have deep experience with Kafka, advanced backend engineering skills, and the ability to mentor engineers while delivering a resilient platform.

Benefits

Generous Learning & Development budget

Enhanced Parental Leave

Flexible working hours and hybrid options

Private health insurance with Vitality

Dental insurance with Unum

Remote socials, talks, and team events

Qualifications

• Deep experience with Kafka & event-driven systems in production.
• Advanced backend engineering with Kotlin (or equivalent JVM stack).
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems and cloud-native architecture (preferably AWS).

Responsibilities

• Architect and own the event-driven platform for learning systems.
• Leverage AI-driven tools for development, monitoring, and testing.
• Lead modernization of monitoring and observability.

Skills

Event-driven systems

Kafka

Backend engineering

Cloud-native architecture

AI/ML tools

Job description

We’re looking for a Staff Backend Engineer to lead the design, development, and ongoing evolution of a world-class language learning platform. This is a foundational engineering role where your mission is to architect and build a highly robust, reliable, and scalable system using event-driven architecture as the backbone.

AI will be used to support development, monitoring, and testing—but what we truly need is a technical leader who owns the long-term stability and performance of the platform. You’ll be tasked with shaping how millions of people around the globe experience language learning, with a mandate to deliver durable infrastructure and intelligent services that scale with our ambitions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect and own the event-driven platform that powers our learning systems, with a focus on reliability, scalability, and future extensibility.
• Leverage AI-driven tools to accelerate platform development, testing, monitoring, and continuous evolution.
• Lead the modernisation of our monitoring and observability, ensuring end-to-end visibility across distributed services.
• Optimise and scale our Kafka infrastructure as a foundational component of our event-driven system.
• Deliver a resilient data platform that supports advanced analytics and AI-driven features across the product.
• Redefine our QA automation strategy using AI to improve reliability and speed.
• Act as a hands-on technical leader, mentoring engineers, guiding architecture decisions, and ensuring best practices in system design and reliability

Competencies:

• Deep experience with Kafka & event-driven systems in production.
• Advanced backend engineering with Kotlin (or equivalent JVM stack).
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems and cloud-native architecture (preferably AWS).
• Proven ability to apply AI/ML tools in DevOps, testing, and observability contexts.
• High ownership and product thinking; sees platforms as living systems to evolve.

This is not a feature factory job. This is platform ownership. You’ll architect and build the learning backbone of a product used globally—with AI accelerating delivery, but human leadership ensuring stability, reliability, and scale. We're building something lasting, and we need someone who thrives in ambiguity, takes full ownership, and builds with long-term clarity.

You'll thrive here if you:

• Love solving technical puzzles with real-world impact
• Lead by example and elevate the people around you
• Are passionate about language, learning, and AI
• Believe platforms should be elegant, observable, and resilient

Interview Process:

1. Screening call with the Hiring manager - (20-25 Min)

2. Coding interview ( 1.5 Hours)

3. System Design Interview ( 1 Hour)

4. Soft skills call ( 30 Minutes)

Whilst we are big fans of AI, we do review each CV individually. A short cover letter or a few punchy sentences about why you’re excited to join Memrise would go a long way. Bonus points if you get the company name right – you'd be surprised.

• Generous Learning & Development budget (courses, conferences, books, + L&D leave)
• Enhanced Parental Leave
• Flexible working hours and hybrid options
• Private health insurance with Vitality
• Dental insurance with Unum
• Remote socials, talks, and team events

Recruiters: Thanks, but we’ve got this one covered – no agency support needed at this time.