Lead Backend Software Engineer

PKR; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Employer-paid premiums

3 weeks paid vacation

Job summary

PKR is seeking a Lead Backend Software Engineer to own architecture, quality and delivery of its core backend platform for real-time geolocation checks in regulated online betting. The role is hands-on, mentoring a distributed team and designing high-performance Java services in a hybrid Philadelphia setting.

You'll work across Product, QA, SRE and Compliance, drive standards for observability and security, and collaborate across time zones with an international team.

Qualifications

• Senior-level backend engineering experience with ownership of architecture and production systems.
• Deep Java and Spring Boot expertise, REST APIs and microservices.
• Experience building low-latency, high-throughput, mission-critical systems.
• Strong cloud experience (AWS, Kubernetes, Docker) including multi-region/multi-tenant.
• Experience with NoSQL and streaming/messaging (DynamoDB, Kinesis, Kafka, SQS).
• Observability, reliability and production troubleshooting skills.
• Security-conscious engineering (TLS, token management, certificate validation).
• Strong testing and CI/CD practices (Git, branching, releases).
• Fluency with AI development tools and guarding for AI-generated work.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction, architecture, quality and delivery of the core backend platform.
• Lead and mentor a distributed backend team through hands-on development and code review.
• Design, build, test and maintain high-performance Java services.
• Set and uphold standards for code quality, testing, observability and maintainability.
• Own services in production, including performance tuning, on-call and incident response.
• Partner with Product, QA, SRE and Compliance to define requirements and releases.
• Drive async collaboration across time zones with clear specs and decisions.
• Lead adoption of AI development tools with team guardrails.

Skills

Backend architecture

Java / Spring Boot

Low-latency systems

Cloud: AWS Kubernetes Docker

NoSQL / streaming (DynamoDB Kinesis /

Observability & reliability

Security (TLS, tokens)

CI/CD

AI tool fluency

Technical leadership

Fraud detection (preferred)

Job description

Who Our Client Is:

Our client builds the geolocation compliance layer for regulated online sports betting and gaming. Before an operator can accept a wager, it must prove the player is physically located where the law requires and show this to a regulator on demand. Our client solves this in real time and at scale for some of the largest betting operators in the US and internationally. The work combines distributed systems, fraud detection and security engineering, and every release is filed with state gaming regulators before it reaches production.

What Our Client Needs:

Our client is seeking a Lead Backend Software Engineer to own the architecture, quality and delivery of its core backend platform. This includes the Java services that process location checks, run decision and fraud rules, and return results in milliseconds. This is a hands-on role: most of the time goes to writing, reviewing and debugging production code, plus mentoring the backend team. This is a hybrid role based in Philadelphia. Most of the backend team sits outside the US, about 8 hours ahead of US Eastern, so much of the day-to-day collaboration is remote and async, with occasional international travel for team planning.

What You’ll Do:

• Own the technical direction, architecture, quality and delivery of the core backend platform, including documenting key architectural decisions
• Lead and mentor a distributed backend team through hands-on development, code review and technical guidance
• Design, build, test and maintain high-performance, scalable and secure Java services
• Set and uphold standards for code quality, testing, documentation, observability and maintainability
• Own services in production, including performance tuning, on-call, incident response and root-cause resolution
• Partner with Product, QA, SRE and Compliance to define requirements and deliver reliable releases that meet regulatory requirements
• Drive async collaboration across time zones through clear specs, tickets, review comments and decisions
• Use modern AI development tools to improve efficiency and quality, and set team standards and guardrails for using them

What You’ll Need:

• Senior-level backend engineering experience, including ownership of architecture and production systems
• Deep Java and Spring/Spring Boot expertise, including REST APIs and microservices
• Experience building and operating low-latency, high-throughput, mission-critical systems
• Strong cloud infrastructure experience (AWS, Kubernetes, Docker), including multi-region and multi-tenant environments
• Experience with NoSQL data modeling and streaming/messaging technologies (DynamoDB, Kinesis, Kafka, SQS)
• Strong observability, reliability and production troubleshooting skills
• Security-conscious engineering, including TLS, token management, certificate validation and request signing
• Strong testing and CI/CD practices, including Git branching, release cutting and merge discipline
• Fluency with AI development tools, including validating and overriding AI-generated work
• Excellent written communication and technical leadership through mentoring and code review
• Preferred: fraud detection or trust and safety systems, geospatial technologies, Apache Flink, regulated environments, iGaming, or startup experience

What They Offer:

• Compensation range of $200,000 to $250,000
• Hybrid work arrangement based in Philadelphia, PA, working with a globally distributed team
• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance
• 100% employer-paid employee health premiums and 50% for eligible dependents
• 3 weeks of paid vacation starting in the first year, plus paid sick time and holidays
• 401(k) with a strong company match
• 100% company-paid life insurance, AD&D and short-term disability