Senior Backend Engineer: Real-Time Ad Auction & Ranking

Spotify; New York (NY); On-site; USD 164,448 - 234,926; Full time

Job summary

Spotify is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer for the Ad Serving squad. You will architect and operate Java services powering real-time ad auction and ranking decisions at scale, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, low-latency ad infrastructure.

You should have 4+ years as a Backend Engineer, experience with Java (Scala preferred), and a track record in production-grade, high-throughput systems.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience as a Backend Engineer.
• Experience with Java; Scala preferred.
• Built low-latency, high-throughput systems where milliseconds matter.
• Wrote distributed, high-volume services in production.

Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and operate Java services powering real-time ad auction and ranking at massive scale.
• Build and maintain scoring, filtering, and selecting ads across formats and sources.
• Design and evolve auction mechanics including second-price logic and floor price enforcement.
• Be a technical leader in an autonomous, cross-functional agile team.
• Collaborate with engineers, product owners, and data scientists to solve problems.

Skills

Backend engineering

Java

Scala

Low-latency systems

Distributed services

Production deployment

Job description

Spotify is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer for the Ad Serving squad. You will architect and operate Java services powering real-time ad auction and ranking decisions at scale, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, low-latency ad infrastructure.

You should have 4+ years as a Backend Engineer, experience with Java (Scala preferred), and a track record in production-grade, high-throughput systems.