Locus - Software Development Engineer III - Backend Architecture

Locus The Software Factory Software Development Engineer 3 (Backend) Who We Are : We're Locus. We move the world's goods. Our algorithms have optimized over 1 billion deliveries. We're the enterprise TMS trusted by IKEA, Unilever, UPS and some of the largest supply chains on the planet. Backed by Ingka Group (IKEA's parent), we're building a composable, multi-modal transportation management system that's redefining logistics technology. We're not hiring to fill seats. We're hiring builders who build for other builders. What You'll Do : You own the backend end to end. Design doc to deployment. Production to on-call. Here's what that looks like day to day : - Architect and ship backend systems that run in production at enterprise scale. - Build fault-tolerant services with clear SLIs/SLOs, strong observability, and predictable performance. - Drive design and implementation for microservices and distributed workflows messaging, async processing, retries, idempotency. - Work closely with a team both Biological and Digital comprising Product, Frontend, QA/SDET, DevOps/SRE, and Data teams to turn business requirements into robust systems. - Raise engineering standards through design reviews, code reviews, and operational best practices. - Mentor junior engineers and lead by example on craft, ownership, and execution. What You Bring : Must-Haves : - 5+ years building production backend systems SaaS or product environments preferred. - Strong fundamentals in distributed systems, concurrency, reliability, and scalability. - Deep experience with Java, Spring / Spring Boot preferred. - Proven track record designing and building REST APIs and microservices. - Working knowledge across the stack : relational + NoSQL databases, messaging (Kafka/RabbitMQ), caching (Redis/Memcached). - Strong debugging instincts, you resolve complex production issues with clarity and ownership. - Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) and modern practices : CI/CD, automated testing, observability. - Track record of shipping and coding and not just planning. Strong Signals - We Actively Look for These : Degrees don't tell us much. These do : - You've built something on your own time, open source, side project, internal tool. - You've contributed to a top open-source project. - You've filed a patent or published research. - You've written technical content others reference, or spoken at a conference. - You've competed in or completed something grueling, ultra-marathon, Ironman, competitive programming, hackathon wins. We don't fill seats. We hire builders who build for other builders. What We Don't Care About : - Which college you went to. Seriously. - Whether your resume has Big Tech logos. - How many years you've held exactly this job title. We care about what you built, why you couldn't stop, and how you think. The Stack : - Languages : Java, Kotlin, Python, TypeScript, Spring / Spring Boot - Infrastructure : AWS, Kubernetes, Kafka, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch - Data / ML : Spark, Airflow, optimization engines (routing, ETA, slotting) - Scale : 350+ deployments, 30+ countries, billions of deliveries, high-volume daily computations Why Locus is different : This isn't a perks list. It's a contract between Locus and people who build. 01. Inference Compute Budget - For Builders Who Ship : - Every engineer gets $5,000/year in AI/LLM inference credits. The budget is the baseline, you need more we have it for you! 02. Patent Premium - Your Name on It. Permanently : - File a patent at Locus, your name stays on it for Eternity. Check our Patents and patents holders. 03. Lifetime Royalty Program - Build the Builders : - Build an internal tool that automates a process or makes us more efficient? Locus pays you a royalty, not just while you're here, but even after you leave. 04. Excellence Beyond Code : - Ironman, ultra-marathon, national-level sport, FIDE 2000+, we see these as signals of craft, grit, and finishing. They matter to us. 05. Open Source Bounty : - Active contributor to a top-1000 GitHub repo? Joining bonus. Active maintainers get dedicated 20% time to keep contributing. 06. Conference Speaker Fund : - Accepted to speak at a global conference? We cover travel, registration, and stay. No questions asked. 07. 1 Billion Deliveries on Your Resume : - You can truthfully say : "My code optimized 1B+ deliveries across 30+ countries." We verify it. 08. Alumni Network That Doesn't Forget You : Leaving Locus? You still get a reduced compute budget ($1K/yr), alumni summit access, referral bonuses, and a fast-track to re-hire. Apply : Send us : - Your GitHub / portfolio / anything you've built - required. More important than your resume. - A one-liner on why Locus interests you. "We don't hire the best people and tell them what to build. We hire builders and get out of their way." - Locus Engineering