Principal Engineer - Service Delivery

3003 Sabre Polska Sp. z o.o.; Kraków; Hybrid; PLN 210,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Luxmed VIP medical

Foreign travel insurance

Employee Capital Plans

Baby bonus

Paid parental leave

Referral bonus

Job summary

Sabre is seeking a Senior Java Backend Engineer in Kraków to design, build, and evolve cloud-native services that power high-scale travel and airline tech solutions. You will focus on Java backend, modern JDK usage, API design, and reliable distributed systems.

Join a team collaborating with Product, Architecture, QA, SRE, and delivery to deliver scalable platform capabilities across on-prem and cloud environments. Hybrid work mode in Kraków with strong growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Experience in Java backend with modern JDK and strong JVM fundamentals.
• Design, develop and secure REST/SOAP APIs with versioning and proper error handling.
• Cloud-native development on Google Cloud Platform (Kubernetes/GKE, Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, Cloud SQL).
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, scalability, and resiliency concepts.
• Experience building and operating microservices with clear service boundaries and observability.
• Familiarity with messaging systems like Kafka, Pub/Sub, or RabbitMQ.
• Knowledge of relational and NoSQL databases, transactions, indexing, and data modeling.
• Experience with OpenAPI/Swagger, API gateways, OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, and enterprise identity integrations.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Helm).
• Experience in travel, airline, retailing, or high-transaction domains.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, test, and maintain backend services using Java with focus on reliability and performance.
• Develop RESTful APIs and integration services for enterprise-grade systems.
• Deliver cloud-native solutions in GCP with containerization and observability.
• Work on distributed architectures and microservices with scalable patterns.
• Implement asynchronous messaging patterns using Kafka, Pub/Sub, or similar.
• Collaborate with architects, QA, SRE, and product teams to refine requirements.
• Ensure production readiness with logging, monitoring, and incident handling.

Skills

Java backend

API design

Cloud native

Distributed systems

Microservices

Messaging

SQL databases

OpenAPI/Swagger

Terraform/Helm

Travel domain

Tools

Kubernetes

GKE

Cloud Run

BigQuery

PostgreSQL

Job description

Powering the agentic revolution in travel. Sabre is an AI-native technology leader, backed by one of the world’s largest travel data clouds. Built on an open, modular, cloud-native architecture, Sabre serves as the backbone for both established leaders and bold, new disruptors, guiding them to the next age of travel retailing through intelligent, connected, and personalized experiences. With AI at its core and operating at unparalleled scale, Sabre transforms insights into innovation, empowering airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel worldwide. Powering the agentic revolution in travel. Sabre is an AI-native technology leader, backed by one of the world’s largest travel data clouds. Built on an open, modular, cloud-native architecture, Sabre serves as the backbone for both established leaders and bold, new disruptors, guiding them to the next age of travel retailing through intelligent, connected, and personalized experiences. With AI at its core and operating at unparalleled scale, Sabre transforms insights into innovation, empowering airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel worldwide.

This role is part of a larger transition and is planned as part of a separate team being created in Kraków.

Role Summary

As an Engineer for the IX Platform, you will design, build, and evolve modern cloud‑native services supporting high‑scale travel and airline technology solutions. You will work on distributed systems, APIs, microservices, data flows, integrations, messaging, and backend components that power mission‑critical customer capabilities. This is a hands‑on engineering role focused on strong Java backend development, modern JDK usage, API design, cloud‑native delivery, and reliable distributed system design. You will collaborate closely with Product, Architecture, QA, SRE, Delivery, and customer‑facing teams to build scalable, secure, maintainable solutions aligned with platform architecture and business needs. The ideal candidate combines solid software engineering fundamentals with practical experience in enterprise backend systems, cloud platforms, databases, messaging technologies, and modern development practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Backend Service Development: Design, develop, test, and maintain backend services using Java and modern JDK capabilities, with focus on clean code, reliability, performance, and maintainability.
• API Design & Integration: Build and consume RESTful APIs and integration services for enterprise‑grade, high‑availability systems. Ensure APIs are well‑structured, versioned, documented, secure, and easy to operate.
• Cloud‑Native Engineering: Develop and deploy services in cloud environments, with strong focus on Google Cloud Platform, containerization, observability, automation, and scalable runtime patterns.
• Distributed Systems & Microservices: Work on distributed architectures, microservices, service‑to‑service communication, fault tolerance, resiliency, scalability, latency, and consistency trade‑offs.
• Messaging & Event‑Driven Architecture: Design and implement asynchronous communication patterns using messaging systems, queues, event streams, and publish/subscribe mechanisms.
• Data & Persistence: Work with relational databases, SQL, schema design, query optimization, data access layers, transactions, caching, and data consistency considerations.
• Engineering Quality: Write production‑quality code with appropriate unit, integration, and component tests. Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Technical Collaboration: Partner with architects, engineers, QA, SRE, and product teams to refine requirements, assess technical options, resolve blockers, and deliver robust platform capabilities.
• Operational Readiness: Support production‑grade software through logging, monitoring, alerting, diagnostics, performance analysis, and incident investigation.

Required Experience & Skills

• Java Backend Engineering: Strong hands‑on experience with Java backend development and modern JDK versions, including concurrency, collections, streams, memory management, performance considerations, and JVM fundamentals.
• API Development: Proven experience designing, developing, consuming, and maintaining REST, SOAP APIs for enterprise systems. Understanding of API contracts, versioning, authentication, authorization, error handling, and documentation standards.
• Cloud Experience: Practical experience with cloud‑native development, preferably on Google Cloud Platform, including services such as Kubernetes/GKE, Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, Cloud Storage, IAM, monitoring, or related capabilities.
• Distributed Systems: Good understanding of distributed system principles, including scalability, resilience, service discovery, retries, timeouts, circuit breakers, idempotency, consistency, latency, and failure handling.
• Microservices: Experience building and operating microservice‑based systems, including service boundaries, inter‑service communication, deployment patterns, configuration management, and observability.
• Messaging & Queues: Experience with messaging technologies and event‑driven systems such as Kafka, Pub/Sub, RabbitMQ, JMS, or similar queueing/streaming platforms.
• Databases: Solid experience with relational databases and SQL, plus familiarity with NoSQL stores. Understanding of transactions, indexing, query performance, schema evolution, and data modeling.
• Modern Engineering Practices: Experience with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, Git, code reviews, dependency management, build tools, and secure software development practices.
• Containerization & Runtime: Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, containerized workloads, service deployment, configuration, secrets management, and cloud runtime operations.
• Problem Solving: Strong analytical skills with the ability to debug complex technical issues across services, APIs, logs, data flows, and environments.
• Preferred Experience Experience with Spring Boot, Spring Cloud or similar Java backend frameworks.
• Experience with GCP‑native services such as GKE, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Memorystore, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Trace, or Cloud Build.
• Experience with Kafka or high‑volume event streaming platforms.
• Experience designing systems for high availability, horizontal scaling, disaster recovery, and performance under load.
• Experience with OpenAPI/Swagger, API gateways, OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, mTLS, or enterprise identity integrations.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, Helm, or similar.
• Experience in travel, airline, retailing, distribution, booking, fulfillment, or other high‑transaction enterprise domains.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Spring Boot, Spring Cloud or similar Java backend frameworks.
• Experience with GCP‑native services such as GKE, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Memorystore, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Trace, or Cloud Build.
• Experience with Kafka or high‑volume event streaming platforms.
• Experience designing systems for high availability, horizontal scaling, disaster recovery, and performance under load.
• Experience with OpenAPI/Swagger, API gateways, OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, mTLS, or enterprise identity integrations.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, or similar technologies.

Engineering Expectations

• Delivers high‑quality backend services with minimal supervision.
• Understands both implementation detail and broader system architecture.
• Makes sound technical decisions based on scalability, reliability, maintainability, and operational impact.
• Writes clean, testable, observable, and production‑ready code.
• Proactively identifies technical risks, dependencies, and design gaps.
• Collaborates effectively across engineering, architecture, product, QA, and operations teams.
• Takes ownership of services from design through implementation, deployment, and production support.
• Continuously improves code quality, platform reliability, and development practices.

Why This Role Matters

The IX Platform supports modern airline and travel technology capabilities that must operate reliably at enterprise scale. As a Software Engineer, you will help build the core backend services, APIs, integrations, and cloud‑native components that enable customers to run business‑critical workflows. Your work will directly influence platform reliability, customer trust, delivery quality, and Sabre’s ability to innovate across airline retailing, distribution, servicing, and fulfillment.

Work arrangements

Hybrid working mode; 3 chosen days from the office in a week Flexible working hours: Maintain your work‑life balance by adjusting your working hours to your needs Paid time off Year‑End‑Break:enjoy additionalfully paid days offduring the last week of the year Paid parental leave: Take up to 12 weeks off with pay after birth or adoption of a child. Sabre Global Paid Parental Leave runs concurrently with local leave policies. Paid volunteer time: take up to 4 days annually to give your time to a charitable organization of your choice.

Your money

• My Benefit platform/Multisport card:enjoy the benefit cafeteria system and use popular sport card
• Tax deduction: take the opportunity to claim deductible costs, reducing your income tax
• Employee Capital Plans:profit from long‑term saving scheme co‑financed by Sabre and the State Treasury
• Baby Bonus:benefit from one‑time allowance on childbirth or adoption
• Say Thanks program:collect points on recognition program and transfer them to wide variety of gifts and services

Health and wellness

• Luxmed VIP medical coverage: take care of yourself and your family with the extensive medical package with a broad range of additional services
• Foreign travel insurance: feel safe going abroad with free Allianz insurance offered as part of our Lux Med package
• Employee Assistance Program: find help in free, confidential program with a certified counselor
• Mindfulness & meditation apps: take care of your mental and physical health
• Life insurance: sign up for free, high coverage life insurance program

Career development

• Professional development:access to e‑learning platforms as well as join Sabre live learning sessions
• Certification and tuition reimbursement

Our Communities

• join one of our team member groups focused on sharing knowledge and best practices (Google Developers Group, Innovation Lab Community, Women in Technology, SOLVE!T and many more)

Extras

• Car and bike parking
• Fun & Relax zone in modern office: enjoy electronic tables to work, foosball, ping pong, pool table, swings, massage chairs and terraces to admire a panoramic view of Kraków. We have parents’ rooms as well No dress code
• Innovation Lab: access Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality equipment, Robot construction kit, 3D printers and many more
• Attractive Referral Bonus:earn $2500 USD for every hired referral

Reasonable Accommodation

Sabre is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. Applicants applying for a Sabre position with a disability who require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process may contact Sabre at [e-mail]. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case‑by‑case basis.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Sabre is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Sabre is an equal employment opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, females, veterans and disabled individuals. EEO IS THE LAW