Tech Academy: Java Graduate program

Picnic Technologies; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lunch & Learn sessions

Free weekly language courses

25 vacation days per year

Pension plan

Expats relocation benefits

Job summary

Picnic Technologies is launching a 6-month Tech Academy for graduates and early-career developers, leading to a Java backend engineer role in Amsterdam. You’ll work on real production systems, learn Reactor/Spring 6, and gain hands-on experience with modern tech like MongoDB, PostgreSQL, and AWS.

During the program you’ll be mentored, collaborate with product and platform teams, and grow in an open, international environment. This is a full-time January 2027 start in the Netherlands.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in CS/IT or related field.
• Recent graduates with up to 1 year of professional experience.
• Willingness to learn technologies to build systems at scale.

Responsibilities

• Join Picnic Tech Academy for 6 months and apply learnings in your team.
• Contribute to Picnic's Java backend teams from day one.
• Collaborate with product and platform teams on scalable systems.

Skills

Willingness to learn

English language proficiency

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/IT/related field

Tools

Spring 6

MongoDB

PostgreSQL

Java

RabbitMQ

Kafka

Maven

Git

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Vault

Job description

In a nutshell

Learn while making an impact! The first 6 months of the role are structured as a dedicated learning and development program, offering a rare chance to step directly into a real production environment, contributing to systems that operate at scale while strengthening both your technical and behavioral skills. After this initial 6-month program, you’ll continue in your role at Picnic as a Java backend engineer, building on what you’ve learned and taking on increasing responsibility. The program is intended to set you up for success in your long-term role at Picnic. Through the Picnic Tech Academy, you’ll explore topics ranging from Java Clean Code to reactive programming and MongoDB, while also developing key capabilities like collaboration and a growth mindset. You’ll learn to balance project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables, building the foundation for a successful engineering career.

Picnic has over 20 Java backend development teams, each highly involved with and essential to all parts of the company. From enabling a smooth shopping experience to ensuring we fulfill our customers’ orders efficiently in our warehouses, there’s a wide range of products to work on. Product teams are also supported by the work of our platform teams on key technologies and infrastructure.

Also, we don’t hide what we do. Instead, we open-source with the community that helped us grow. Here’s proof: http://picnic.tech

Tricks of the trade

• Growth: Level up your development and behavioral skills through our 6 months Tech Academy and with the guidance of your mentor while applying what you learn directly in your team!
• Contribution: Become a part of one of our product teams from day one and start contributing to Picnic from the get-go
• Ownership: Get to work on increasingly challenging tasks and projects, growing all the time, and working collaboratively with your colleagues
• Our Tech: Java 25 (Reactor and Spring 6), RabbitMQ and Kafka, Maven and Git, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Vault (Hungry for more? Check out https://stackshare.io/picnic-technologies for an overview of our tech stack)

We’re looking for

• You have (or will soon have) a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field
• Recent graduates and early-career professionals with up to 1 year of professional experience
• Willingness to learn technologies to create systems at scale
• Your English skills are on point (no Dutch required)
• You are available to start this position full time in January 2027!

Extra credit for

• Familiarity with Spring, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL
• Relevant working experience/projects alongside your studies

Picnic Perks

• Every expert was once a beginner! You’ll get plenty of opportunities to challenge yourself and grow, including the Picnic Tech Academy, Lunch & Learn sessions, and tailored soft skills training. We also offer free professional weekly language courses.
• Make a difference You’ll work in an awesome startup environment with the freedom to drive your own projects and create a visible impact. Our fully electric vehicles and sustainable business model mean you’ll also be contributing to making the world a better place!
• Teamwork makes the dream work With more than 80 nationalities across 3 countries, you’ll be part of a diverse company with plenty of cool stuff to get involved with, from board game evenings to after-work drinks to our company ski trip and more!
• You Are What You Eat You’ll get freshly prepared, healthy lunches and snacks (with plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and halal options). Coffee snob? Don’t worry, our amazing Picnic barista has you covered.
• Stay healthy Mental health is important. As well as having the option to speak with Picnic colleagues who act as confidential advisors, our collaboration with OpenUp gives you easy access to professional psychologists, along with workshops and materials. There are plenty of sports communities and events to get involved with, from tennis to yoga, to climbing!
• Attractive package We offer competitive compensation and a pension plan that looks out for your future self, as well as 25 vacation days per year, so you can recharge your batteries.
• Benefits For Expats It can be daunting starting a new job AND moving to a new country. That’s why we offer lots of support for our many expat colleagues, if you want to find our relocation benefits, see here.