Senior Java Engineer — AI‑Powered Travel APIs

KAYAK; Concord (NH); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work from (almost) anywhere for up to

HeadSpace subscription

SpringHealth therapy

Free lunch 2 days a week

Paid parental leave

Generous vacation and personal time

Job summary

KAYAK, a leading travel search engine and part of Booking Holdings, is seeking a Java Senior Software Engineer to design, implement and maintain production software for AI-assisted search and travel planning. The role requires commuting to the Concord, MA office three times per week and collaborating with product managers and designers.

You will work on APIs, AI features, and reliable systems, with emphasis on observability, testing and code quality. Java and Spring experience desired.

Qualifications

• Experience building and maintaining production software.
• Proficiency in Java or another relevant programming language.
• Familiarity with APIs, data structures and software-design principles.
• Experience testing software and investigating defects or production issues.
• The ability to explain technical decisions clearly in writing and conversation.
• The ability to take ownership of assigned work while asking for input or support when needed.
• Experience contributing to projects from design through implementation, release and maintenance.
• Equivalent practical experience is welcome in place of a specific degree or educational path.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and maintain reliable production software for KAYAK's travel-search and trip-planning experiences.
• Build and evolve APIs and services supporting AI-assisted search, conversational travel planning, itineraries and related user experiences.
• Investigate technical problems, assess trade-offs and choose practical solutions that improve reliability, performance and maintainability.
• Write automated tests and contribute to quality across unit, integration and end-to-end testing.
• Participate in code reviews and technical discussions, providing constructive feedback focused on correctness, clarity and maintainability.
• Work with engineers, product managers and designers to clarify requirements and deliver useful, accessible user experiences.
• Contribute to features such as ASK AI, smart filters, AI-generated hotel review summaries, Explore and related search experiences.
• Help make AI-assisted features dependable, transparent and useful to travelers.
• Learn unfamiliar systems and share knowledge with teammates through documentation, pairing and technical discussions.
• Monitor and improve production behavior through effective debugging, observability and root-cause analysis.
• Contribute to the evolution of development tools, engineering processes and delivery practices.

Skills

Java

APIs

Data structures

Software design

Testing

Communication

Ownership

End-to-end development

Tools

Spring

CI/CD

Cloud services

Job description

KAYAK, a leading travel search engine and part of Booking Holdings, is seeking a Java Senior Software Engineer to design, implement and maintain production software for AI-assisted search and travel planning. The role requires commuting to the Concord, MA office three times per week and collaborating with product managers and designers.

You will work on APIs, AI features, and reliable systems, with emphasis on observability, testing and code quality. Java and Spring experience desired.