Senior Backend Engineer

About the Role:

At SumUp, we're on a mission to bring merchants and consumers closer together and help local communities thrive. With SumUp Pay, we're building a rewarding banking experience that connects people to the small businesses they love while enabling free transactions for our merchants.

SumUp Pay helps consumers manage their money with ease and get more from everyday spending. It offers seamless payment experiences and financial tools designed for modern life, supporting the growth of a thriving consumer banking ecosystem.

This is a high-impact technical position where you'll build and scale backend services for our neobanking platform. You will develop banking features while ensuring the highest standards of security, compliance, and availability. Working in a fast-paced environment, you'll collaborate closely with mobile engineers, product managers, and cross-tribe stakeholders to deliver seamless banking experiences to our customers.

What you’ll do:

• Develop and maintain backend services for neobanking features across our consumer banking platform
• Build highly available, scalable systems deployed on AWS with container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) using Go, Kotlin, or Python
• Collaborate with mobile engineers (iOS and Android) to deliver seamless banking experiences and ensure smooth integration between backend and frontend
• Work on banking infrastructure improvements and migrations while maintaining system stability and customer experience
• Contribute to technical designs and architecture decisions for consumer banking products, balancing feature delivery with infrastructure improvements
• Integrate with external banking systems and payment providers while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and security standards
• Participate in code reviews and maintain high engineering standards across the codebase
• Work closely with the Product Manager, Designer, and Engineering Manager to deliver on quarterly OKRs and roadmap priorities

You’ll be great for this role if you:

• Bring 5+ years of backend engineering experience, with a proven track record of building and maintaining production systems
• Are highly proficient in Go (or another modern backend language) and care deeply about writing clean, maintainable, and testable code
• Have hands-on experience designing and running services in the cloud (AWS or similar), with strong knowledge of Docker and Kubernetes in real-world environments
• Possess strong SQL skills and solid understanding of databases (SQL and NoSQL), with experience building highly available, scalable backend services
• Bring strong problem-solving and debugging skills, with the ability to navigate complex technical challenges
• Are self-driven, proactive, and bring a product-oriented mindset with a quality-focused approach
• Have experience working in agile, cross-functional teams and collaborating effectively with mobile engineers and product stakeholders
• Are adaptable to changing priorities and comfortable with ambiguity in a fast-paced, startup-like environment

Nice to have:

• Experience in payments and financial services or fintech environments
• Experience with microservices architecture and event-driven systems

Why you should join SumUp:

• Opportunity to work in a truly global, multicultural team from our open, vibrant Cologne office, located in the heart of the city. This involves an office-first setup
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced
• Enrolment onto our Virtual Stock Option programme: you will own a stake in SumUp’s future success
• Generous time off: enjoy 28 days of paid leave plus public holidays and special leave days
• Commute made easy: subsidised mobility options like discounted transport tickets or bike leasing
• Stay active: access to fitness via Urban Sports Club, mostly covered by SumUp
• Financial health: a corporate pension scheme with SumUp contributing an extra 20% on top of your contribution
• Employee perks: get discounts across products and services via our Corporate Benefits platform
• Break4me: 1-month sabbatical after 3 years of service
• Referral Bonus: earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team

About SumUp:

Be empowered to do more that matters.

At SumUp, we're on a mission to empower small businesses across the globe by providing a vast set of simple and affordable business tools to help them start, run, and grow their businesses. Today, over 4 million businesses in 36 markets rely on SumUp as their financial partner to manage payments, finance and customer relationships.

Our commitment to small businesses is reflected in our diverse team of over 3,000 SumUppers from over 90 nationalities, united by global collaboration and an innovative mindset. Our core values lay the foundation for who we are and what we stand for, shaping our work culture and driving our success. We foster an inclusivity and continuous learning culture, providing a safe space for personal and professional growth. Our differences make us unique and strong as we strive to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels supported, no matter how they identify.

SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, actively seeking and embracing diversity in our workforce. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by company policy. Our commitment extends beyond recruitment to creating a safe and respectful workplace where harassment of any form is strictly prohibited.

Explore career opportunities with us and join a team driven by collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision of creating a world where everyone can build a thriving business. Discover more about our vibrant and inclusive work culture and how we work on our careers website, and follow our journey on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Job Application Tip

We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don’t tick every box, it’s ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.