Staff Backend Engineer

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

Job summary

A leading company seeks a Staff Backend Engineer to architect and build a scalable language learning platform. This role involves shaping the backend using event-driven architecture, leveraging AI for development and monitoring while ensuring system reliability and performance. Ideal candidates will have strong expertise in Kafka, backend engineering, and cloud-native architectures.

Benefits

Generous Learning & Development budget

Enhanced Parental Leave

Flexible working hours

Private health insurance

Dental insurance

Remote socials 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.

Responsibilities

• Architect and own the event-driven platform for the language learning system.
• Lead the modernization of monitoring and optimize Kafka infrastructure.
• Act as a hands-on technical leader, mentoring engineers.

Skills

Kafka

Event-driven systems

Backend engineering

AI/ML tools

Cloud-native architecture

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.