Sr Backend Engineer

Taboola; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 165,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work schedule

401k matching

Health insurance

Paid parental leave

Well-being benefits

Job summary

Taboola is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer on the R&D Team in Downtown Los Angeles to build and optimize Realize, Taboola’s high-volume recommendation platform. You’ll work on backend services supporting 600M+ daily users, focusing on scalable, high-performance systems and AI-assisted tooling.

The role requires 5+ years Java with Spring, strong databases (MySQL/Cassandra), and experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka, and Vespa/Elasticsearch. Hybrid in-office schedule in LA is offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on Java coding with the Spring Framework.
• Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL databases (MySQL, Cassandra).
• Experience with big data processing tools (Spark, Hadoop, BigQuery).
• Experience with containerization/orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with version control (Git).
• Knowledge of microservices, RESTful APIs and event-driven messaging (Kafka).
• Experience building real-time search/recommendation/vector-search (Vespa/Elasticsearch/Solr).
• Ability to design scalable, reliable systems and own end-to-end components.
• Comfort working with AI-assisted tooling and cross-team collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable backend services for Taboola’s Realize platform.
• Develop data processing pipelines handling billions of events.
• Own health of services: monitoring, incidents, root-cause analysis, and improvements.
• Collaborate with Product and Architects to deliver robust solutions.
• Mentor junior/mid engineers and drive code quality and reviews.

Skills

Java

Spring

Relational databases

NoSQL

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

RESTful APIs

Microservices

Big data

Vespa

Git

AI tools

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Kafka

Elasticsearch

Vespa

Job description

Realize your potential by joining the leading performance-driven advertising company and a proud Great Place to Work® Certified employer in the US!

As a Senior Backend Engineer working on the R&D Team in Downtown Los Angeles, utilizing some of the latest technology and tools, you will contribute to building and improving Taboola’s recommendation infrastructure. You will work on the backend services that drive Realize — Taboola's performance advertising platform serving 600M+ daily active users. This team is crucial for Taboola’s cookie-less future and the services you build directly influence campaign performance and revenue outcomes for publishers and advertisers worldwide.

To Thrive In This Role, You'll Need

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in a relevant field, ideally Computer Science, Engineering, or similar.
• 5+ years of hands-on Java coding and experience with the Spring Framework.
• Strong understanding of database and search/serving concepts, with experience in relational, NoSQL (e.g., MySQL, Cassandra).
• Experience with big data processing and analytics tools (e.g., Apache Spark, Hadoop, Google BigQuery).
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with modern version control systems (specifically Git).
• Thorough understanding of backend integration concepts, microservices architecture, RESTful APIs, and event-driven messaging (e.g., Kafka, web services).
• Experience building and scaling real-time search, recommendation, or vector-search pipelines (specifically using Vespa or similar technologies like Elasticsearch/Solr).
• System-architecture mindset — ability to design scalable, reliable, high-performance systems.
• Experience taking end-to-end ownership of systems—using AI-assisted tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude, Codex).
• Ability to communicate technical findings clearly, and to collaborate effectively across teams (including early morning or evening syncs with our Tel Aviv team).
• Experience supporting production systems, including participating in on-call rotations, troubleshooting live issues, and driving root-cause fixes.

Bonus Points If You Have

• Experience developing models, algorithms and infrastructure to support large-scale data-mining and machine learning systems.
• Experience in Python coding.

How You’ll Make An Impact

• Be a builder and problem solver - work closely with our Product team and architects to reach optimal technology solutions.
• Work in a SCRUM environment designing, coding, and managing integration projects from conception to completion.
• Develop highly scalable backend services and robust data processing pipelines to handle billions of high-throughput events and terabytes of data daily.
• Take end-to-end ownership to design, build, measure, and maintain complex backend systems. Use AI coding assistants as force multipliers for rapid prototyping, feature delivery, and troubleshooting, grounded in strong engineering discipline and rigorous code review.
• Mentoring junior or mid-level developers.
• Own the health of your services in production: monitor performance, respond to incidents, lead root-cause analysis, and make improvements that keep Taboola services and system reliable at scale.

Why Taboola?

About

If you ask Taboolars what they love about working here, they’ll tell you that they’ve been empowered to realize their full potential while growing and learning from and with smart and talented people. They’ll also share more about:

• Adam Singolda, Taboola Founder and CEO says; “You can copy anything from another business but you can’t copy a company’s culture.
• Well-being: Enjoy comprehensive benefits (health, dental, vision, 401k matching), a fully stocked kitchen and parking.
• Flexibility: We offer a hybrid work schedule with 3 days in-office with an option to come in more often if desired.
• Work with some of the biggest names: Our publisher partners include Yahoo, Conde Nast, Fox Sports, NBCU, ESPN, CBS, and E! Online. Our advertiser clients include Wells Fargo, Honda, Pinterest, and Expedia.

Ready to realize your potential?

Taboola is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity in all forms. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and believe such an environment is critical for success. Employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

Learn more about #TaboolaLife on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, & the Taboola Life Blog.

About Taboola

Taboola empowers businesses to grow through performance advertising technology that goes beyond search and social and delivers measurable outcomes at scale.

Taboola works with thousands of businesses who advertise directly on Realize, Taboola’s powerful ad platform, reaching approximately 600M daily active users across some of the best publishers in the world. Publishers like NBC News, Yahoo, and OEMs such as Samsung, Xiaomi and others use Taboola’s technology to grow audience and revenue, enabling Realize to offer unique data, specialized algorithms, and unmatched scale.

The pay offered may vary depending on several factors such as location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We may offer several perks as part of the compensation package that include a discretionary bonus, equity, flexible PTO, medical/dental/vision insurance, a competitive 401(k) match, paid parental leave, and more.

Base Salary Pay Range: $165,000 USD - $185,000 USD