Backend Engineer - Balance Management

SumUp; United States; On-site; USD 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Virtual Stock Options

25 days paid leave

Gym membership allowance

Learning budget (2,000 EUR)

Job summary

SumUp in Vilnius is seeking an experienced Backend Engineer to modernize and scale banking services across regions. You will own from design to production, building reliable, high-volume systems handling ledgers and transactions in a globally scalable platform.

Proficiency in Golang and/or Kotlin, plus experience with PostgreSQL, Kafka, Docker, and Kubernetes, is highly desirable. This role involves collaboration across Risk, Treasury, Finance, and Infrastructure.

Qualifications

• You have solid backend experience building reliable, high-volume services and you think carefully about system design, APIs, data modeling, and how services interact.
• You are comfortable learning and working with multiple languages (Go, Kotlin, Elixir) and have a focus on maintainable, well-tested code.
• You are familiar with cloud environments (AWS), Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD practices.

Responsibilities

• Build and evolve SumUp's core banking services powering ledger operations and transactions, transforming regional systems into a unified global platform.
• Tackle complex distributed systems challenges to ensure resilient services under high transaction volumes.
• Improve observability, increase test coverage, refactor code for long-term maintainability, and introduce new architectural patterns without disrupting live banking operations.
• Contribute to architectural decisions by building ledger and transaction history systems for a globally scalable solution.
• Collaborate with Risk, Treasury, Finance, and Infrastructure to ensure compliant and reliable global operations.
• Take ownership from design to production, monitor performance, and continuously improve delivery of high-quality software at scale.

Job description

We believe in the everyday hero. Those who have the courage to follow their passion and who have the strength and determination to realise their dreams.Small business owners are at the heart of all we do, so we're creating powerful, easy-to-use financial solutions to help them run their businesses. With a founder’s mentality and a 'team-first’ attitude, our diverse teams across Europe, South America and the United States work together to ensure that small business owners can be successful doing what they love.

At SumUp, the Global Bank team builds the core infrastructure and services that give merchants a digital bank account, helping small businesses manage their money easily and reliably.

The Balance Management Squad sits at the core of the Global BankPlatform. Right now, our team is completing a major milestone: consolidating and modernizing our balance management system in Europe. The next big step is creating a global transaction history service; a single, shared platform used by all regions to give merchants consistent and transparent views of their financial activity.

As a Backend Engineer, you’ll help modernize existing systems while balancing innovation with stability, collaborate with teams across regions, and build reliable services that manage diverse markets with different regulations.

Our tech stack includes Go, AWS, Kafka, PostgreSQL, and Kubernetes, supported by a strong observability toolchain with Prometheus, Grafana, and Honeycomb. We also actively use AI‑assisted development tools such as Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and others.

SumUp’s engineering culture is built around ownership. We follow a “build it, run it, improve it” model, with strong observability and a focus on learning. Engineers have clear scope and autonomy, with decisions documented, reviewed, and made collaboratively.

The Vilnius team is a core part of the Global Bank domain. We own production systems, shape technical direction, and work closely with colleagues across SumUp’s global offices on critical merchant banking capabilities. Join our Vilnius Team today (Vilnius office).

What You’ll Do

• Build and evolve the SumUp’s core banking services that powers ledger operations and transactions, transforming our regional systems into a unified, scalable global platform.
• Tackle complex distributed systems challenges, ensuring resilient services that continue to perform under high transaction volumes.
• Support modernization initiatives by improving observability, adding test coverage, refactoring code for long-term maintainability, and gradually introducing new architectural patterns without disrupting live banking operations.
• Contribute to architectural decisions - build ledger and transaction history systems from the ground up, ensuring a globally scalable banking solution for our clients.
• Collaborate with teams across Risk, Treasury, Finance, and Infrastructure to ensure smooth, compliant, and reliable global operations
• Take ownership from design to production, running the services you build, monitoring their performance, and continuously improving how we deliver high-quality software at scale.

You’ll be great for this role if you

• You have solid backend experience building reliable, high-volume services and you think carefully about system design, APIs, data modeling, and how services interact.
• You are proficient in Golang and/or Kotlin and comfortable learning and working with other languages as needed, e.g. Elixir.
• You write maintainable, well-tested code, follow CI/CD best practices, and take responsibility for the software you build from development to production.
• You’re comfortable building, deploying, and running services in cloud environments like AWS using Docker and Kubernetes.
• You’re eager to learn about relational databases that perform well under load and maintain data consistency.
• You are a collaborator who enjoys working across regions, communicating clearly, exchanging feedback effectively, and making thoughtful technical decisions together.
• You have a curiosity for building reliable financial services and banking domain

It’s a plus if you have

• Knowledge of Elixir - some of our legacy services are written in Elixir, and while it's not essential, it would be useful if you've worked with it before.
• Deeper PostgreSQL experience - we rely heavily on Postgres, so if you've done performance tuning, complex queries, or schema design, that's a plus.
• Experience with event streaming platforms (Kafka preferred) and modern observability stacks (Grafana, Honeycomb, etc.)

Why you should join SumUp

We’re a truly global team of 3200+ skilled professionals from 92+ countries, spread across 4 continents. Join the team from our Vilnius office.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced.

Enrolment onto our Virtual Stock Option programme: you will own a stake in SumUp’s future success

Time off: 25 days of paid leave, plus special holidays

Peace of mind: health insurance through Gjensidige and life & accidental coverage from Ergo

Stay active: gym membership allowance to help you keep fit on your terms

Career growth and learning opportunities: We invest in your development through regular training, mentorship programs, SumUp University cohort and a yearly learning budget (2,000 EUR)

We take learning and experimentation seriously with Hack Days every second Friday, and entire global Hack Weeks.

Break4me: 1-month sabbatical after 3 years of service

Referral Bonus: earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team.

Compensation

In Lithuania is 3,493 to 4657 Euro Gross p/m + 2000 EUR annual learning budget + Virtual Stock Options. Offer may vary based on skills and experience

About SumUp

At SumUp, we’re on a mission to empower small businesses around the world with simple, affordable tools to help them start, run, and grow. More than 4 million merchants across 37 markets trust us as their financial partner — and we’re just getting started.

We’re a global team of 3,000+ people from over 90 nationalities, united by curiosity, collaboration, and care. Our core values and culture shape everything we do, fostering inclusion, learning, and belonging.

SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, committed to building a safe, respectful, and diverse workplace where everyone can thrive.

SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, actively seeking and embracing diversity in our workforce. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by company policy. Our commitment extends beyond recruitment to creating a safe and respectful workplace where harassment of any form is strictly prohibited.

Job Application Tip

We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don’t tick every box, it’s ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.