Growth-Focused Backend Engineer (Go, Kafka)

SumUp; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

L&D budget €2,000 per year

VSOP program stake in SumUp

25 days paid leave + service-based day

30 days sabbatical after 3 years

Meal support - tax-free vouchers

On-site health & life insurance

Multisport card

Referral bonus

Job summary

SumUp is seeking a backend engineer to design, build, and operate production-grade services in Go, with a focus on APIs, data contracts, and distributed systems. You’ll implement event-driven workflows using Kafka and collaborate across Product, Data, and Compliance to deliver scalable fintech solutions.

You’ll own designs end-to-end, improve reliability, and contribute to a security-conscious, auditable environment while working with a global SumUp team from our Sofia office and beyond.

Qualifications

• Strong backend engineering background with Go or a similar typed language
• APIs and distributed systems design with clear contracts and versioning
• Fluent in relational and analytical databases (PostgreSQL, Snowflake)
• Kafka-based event-driven systems and data streaming experience
• Experience with auditable, high-trust fintech or payments domains
• Proficient testing, observability, and incident response practices
• Ability to own problems end-to-end and communicate trade-offs clearly

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate production-grade backend services, APIs, and integrations (Go)
• Develop event-driven workflows using Kafka and asynchronous processing
• Define service boundaries, data models, and API contracts for cross-team use
• Support merchant acquisition, identity, marketing tech, operations, risk, and compliance
• Own work end-to-end from discovery through deployment and monitoring
• Improve reliability via observability, security, and incident response
• Collaborate with Product, Data, Ops, Compliance, Risk, Sales, Marketing to turn requirements into solutions
• Review code and designs, share knowledge, and mentor engineers

Skills

Go backend

APIs & contracts

Relational DBs

Kafka

Event-driven

Auditable fintech

Testing & Observability

Ownership & collaboration

Communication

Tools

PostgreSQL

Snowflake

Job description

SumUp is seeking a backend engineer to design, build, and operate production-grade services in Go, with a focus on APIs, data contracts, and distributed systems. You’ll implement event-driven workflows using Kafka and collaborate across Product, Data, and Compliance to deliver scalable fintech solutions.

You’ll own designs end-to-end, improve reliability, and contribute to a security-conscious, auditable environment while working with a global SumUp team from our Sofia office and beyond.