Senior Backend Engineer

Context Labs BV; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Context Labs BV seeks a Senior Backend Engineer to drive data management and analytics initiatives for the Immutably Platform. You will lead the engineering team, shape architecture, and mentor engineers across distributed teams.

You will design scalable data systems using JVM languages and Python, build APIs (REST/GraphQL/gRPC), and guide projects with Spark, Flink, and Databricks. The role reports to the CTO and sits at the Amsterdam office.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience developing large-scale or 'big data' systems.
• Experience with modern data processing technologies such as Spark, Flink, and Arrow.
• Experience with workflow orchestration platforms like Dolphin, Dagster, and Airflow.
• Strong programming experience with JVM languages and Python, including Java frameworks such as Spring.
• Proficiency in API development and integration (REST, GraphQL, gRPC).
• Experience with data lakes/fabrics and platforms such as Databricks.
• Proficiency with Docker, Kubernetes, microservices, and relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL).
• Experience with testing, source control, and distributed teamwork.
• Strong communication and ownership of technical initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Provide engineering leadership and architectural guidance.
• Design, develop, and maintain data systems for the Immutably Platform.
• Translate business requirements into technical designs and tasks.
• Lead technical projects using Java, Scala, and Python.
• Establish engineering best practices through code quality, architecture, and code reviews.
• Collaborate in an Agile environment and mentor engineers.
• Coordinate engineering efforts across distributed teams and time zones.

Skills

Big data design

Spark

Flink

Arrow

Dolphin

Dagster

Airflow

Java

Spring

Python

RESTful APIs

GraphQL

gRPC

Databricks

MySQL

PostgreSQL

NoSQL

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Databricks

Airflow

Job description

About this position:

Context Labs is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to help drive forward our product initiatives with our data management platform and analytics spaces. Working as a leader within the development team, the engineer will lead many aspects of developing our “big data” systems, APIs, and related product capabilities; as well as provide thought leadership, upskilling of less senior engineers, and taking part in defining strategic linkages across the company’s products. This role will report to the CTO.

In this role you will:

• Serve as a technical authority, providing engineering leadership and architectural guidance.
• Design, develop, and maintain data systems and services for the Immutably™ Platform, ensuring scalable, performant, and maintainable solutions.
• Translate business requirements into technical designs, estimates, and development tasks in collaboration with Product and Engineering.
• Lead technical projects using appropriate programming languages, including Java, Scala, and Python.
• Establish engineering best practices through high-quality code, architecture, documentation, and code reviews.
• Collaborate within an Agile development environment to deliver high-quality software.
• Coach and mentor engineers through technical and methodological challenges.
• Coordinate engineering efforts across distributed teams and multiple time zones.
• Anything else as may reasonably be required by the company.

Experience & Skills:

• 10+ years of experience developing large-scale or “big data” systems, with strong knowledge of modern application architectures.
• Expertise with modern data processing technologies such as Spark, Flink, and Arrow, including large-scale query processing.
• Experience with workflow orchestration and scheduling platforms such as Dolphin, Dagster, and Airflow.
• Strong programming experience with JVM languages and Python, including Java frameworks such as Spring.
• Proficiency in API development and integration, including RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and gRPC.
• Experience developing data lakes/data fabrics and working with platforms such as Databricks.
• Proficiency with Docker, Kubernetes, microservices, and relational databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL.
• Experience with digital asset creation/registration, unit and functional testing, and source code management.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work independently and take ownership of technical initiatives.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with functional programming
• Experience leveraging AI tools – not only building & working with them.
• Tools such as Github Copilot, Cursor AI, Claude Code, Bolt, Open AI Codex, etc. across all disciplines.
• Experience with languages other than Java
• Experience with frameworks other than Spring (Quarkus/Helidon/etc)
• Experience leading technical talks on topics relating to microservice based systems and processes
• Experience with NoSQL/NewSQL databases
• Experience working with the Delta Sharing, Iceberg ReST and other such protocols
• A bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

Why you’ll like it here:

• Context Labs is collaborative at its core. You’ll work within your team and across the organization allowing for continuous learning and discovery.
• We set goals that matter and provide value in all that we do, from building meaningful products to positively impacting carbon reduction and climate change.
• Context Labs’ mission is to transform complex data into continuously proven information. Powered by Immutably™, an innovative, trusted data fabric platform, our integrated solutions deliver context-driven insights that enable human networks to spot patterns, correlate trends - and reveal the ground truth hidden inside the world’s most complicated, persistent problems.

Context Labs embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We believe the more inclusive we are, the better our products will be. Context Labs will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please contact Human Resources at [e-mail].

Who we are:

Context Labs builds industrial AI data infrastructure for global markets, giving energy and industrial companies trusted data and AI outputs they can defend. Its platform turns fragmented operational and emissions data into continuously proven information, while sensitive data stays within each company’s own environment. Because the data is verified and the workflows validated, one platform can support any output, from carbon management and compliance to commercial use. The company grew out of research at MIT and is led by a team that helped build the internet at scale through earlier companies. Context Labs has offices in Amsterdam, Cambridge, Mass., and Houston, TX. Learn more at www.contextlabs.com.