Backend System / Software Engineer

bol; Utrecht; On-site; EUR 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

29 days to recharge

Public transport, car, parking & 充

Job summary

The Backend System / Software Engineer role at bol in Utrecht focuses on owning and evolving the backend foundation that powers bol's shop teams. You will build and operate platform services, drive automation, and improve observability to enable fast, reliable product development.

You'll join the ShopCore-BackEnd team, work with Kubernetes, Google Cloud Platform, Spring Boot, GraphQL, CI/CD, and other modern technologies, and collaborate across engineering teams to scale the platform for

Responsibilities

• Build and operate reliable platform services that support 55+ teams
• Automate operational processes and reduce manual work through tooling and scripting
• Improve observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response capabilities
• Work with Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code solutions
• Help improve platform reliability, scalability, and security
• Contribute to backend services and APIs by growing your software engineering skills
• Collaborate with software engineers, product managers, and other platform teams
• Explore how AI can help us build and operate a better platform

Education

Bachelor / Master

Tools

Kubernetes

Google Cloud Platform

Spring Boot

GraphQL

CI/CD

Golang

Java

Kotlin

AI-assisted development

Job description

Backend System / Software Engineer
Own the backend foundation. Accelerate every shop team.

• Bachelor / Master
• 7.200-9.000
• Utrecht
• 7-10+ year

How will you make our customers happy?

Every feature bol's shop teams produce, whether it's a customer-facing website innovation, an in-app UX improvement, or an update across emerging shopping channels, is built on a backend environment that you help create, cultivate, and evolve.
As a System Engineer in ShopCore-BackEnd, you help build, operate, and improve the technical foundation that enables dozens of teams to scale, experiment, and ship with confidence, without having to worry about what's happening under the hood. Every improvement you make in reliability, automation, observability, and platform capabilities accelerates product teams, strengthens the platform, and helps millions of customers enjoy a better shopping experience. Our shop teams are eager to move faster. If you can help make that happen, we'd love to talk to you.

The biggest challenge

The challenge isn't just adding backend capabilities; it's building and evolving the platform that 55+ teams depend on. Behind every successful feature team is a foundation of reliable systems, scalable infrastructure, automation, observability, and backend services that they can trust.
You'll help shape that foundation by solving scalability challenges, improving reliability and engineering effectiveness, and enabling product teams to build and ship faster. You'll work on platform reliability, automation, observability, and operations, while expanding your software engineering skills through backend development and platform evolution.

What you do as the System Software Engineer – ShopCore - BackEnd

You are part of the ShopCore-BackEnd team, which builds and operates the backend capabilities that enable shop teams to create better consumer experiences faster.
Your responsibilities include:

• Build and operate reliable platform services that support 55+ teams
• Automate operational processes and reduce manual work through tooling and scripting
• Improve observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response capabilities
• Work with Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code solutions
• Help improve platform reliability, scalability, and security
• Contribute to backend services and APIs by growing your software engineering skills
• Collaborate with software engineers, product managers, and other platform teams
• Explore how AI can help us build and operate a better platform

How you can make the difference

You have a strong systems mindset and enjoy improving complex technical environments. You may come from a System Engineering, Platform Engineering, or Infrastructure background and want to broaden your impact by combining platform engineering with backend software development.
You will join the ShopCore - BackEnd team (~9 engineers), part of the Technical Shop Foundation within the Consumer Journey domain. We run business-critical services where stability matters, while continuously improving our architecture, reducing operational overhead, increasing automation, and exploring how AI can help us build a better platform. The team owns the Shop API (federated GraphQL), the Shop Router and several backend services that form the foundation of bol's shopping channels.You don't need to be a software engineering expert from day one. Curiosity, ownership, and a strong technical foundation matter most. You will work alongside experienced engineers to gradually expand your software engineering skills while helping build and operate the platform that powers bol's shopping experience.

Tech stack
Kubernetes, Google Cloud Platform, Gitlab, Spring Boot, GraphQL, CI/CD, Golang, Java, Kotlin, AI-assisted development.

3 reasons why this is (not) for you

• Curious engineer
  You enjoy tackling unfamiliar problems, improving complex systems, and learning new technologies. Whether the challenge is reliability, automation, infrastructure, or backend development, you're eager to understand how things work and make them better.
• Team ownership
  You believe great software is built together. You actively collaborate, you take responsibility, share knowledge, ask for feedback, and help your teammates succeed because you know the best solutions come from collective thinking.
• Growth mindset
  You continuously improve yourself, your team, and the way we work. Whether it is refining engineering practices, improving platform reliability, or exploring new technologies such as AI, you are always looking for ways to get better.

• Infrastructure-only engineer
  You enjoy running systems but have no interest in software development. This role combines platform engineering, operations and software engineering. Curiosity to develop across these areas is essential.
• Solo performer
  You prefer working alone, do not value feedback, and see collaboration as a necessary evil. This team succeeds through teamwork, not individual heroics.
• Know-it-all
  You believe you've already mastered your craft and have little interest in learning new technologies, approaches, or other perspectives.

Perks of having a blue heart

• 29 days to recharge
• Public transport, car, parking & charging covered
• 75% premium covered
• Based on sustainability goals