Staff Backend Engineer (Java)

TL;DR

Staff Backend Engineer (Java): Architecting and building a mission-critical, configuration-driven workflow and data platform that multiple teams rely on daily, with an accent on flexibility, security, and scalability. Focus on making architectural trade-offs, defining domain logic through configuration, and providing technical leadership without people management to ensure platform reliability and consistency.

Location: Hybrid working (3 days from home with flexible hours), requiring presence in the Utrecht region.

Salary: €90.000–€100.000

Company

Mid-sized tech organisation building a multi-tenant SaaS platform that serves as the backbone for essential processes affecting millions of people every day.

What you will do

• Take end-to-end technical ownership of the core platform, designing and building its engine.
• Make architectural trade-offs considering flexibility, security, performance, and maintainability.
• Define how domain logic can be safely expressed through configuration and ensure multi-tenancy is structurally implemented.
• Act as a sparring partner for other teams in modelling their domains and safeguarding platform consistency.
• Write code for critical components and define architectural boundaries.
• Provide strong technical leadership with real impact in an individual contributor role.

Requirements

• Experience at staff, principal or tech lead level in backend engineering.
• Proven architectural responsibility in complex software environments.
• 7+ years of experience with Java (17+) and Spring Boot in modern architectures.
• Experience with SaaS platforms and multi-tenancy is a strong plus.
• Comfortable working with abstract systems such as config-driven or engine-style platforms.
• Possess a hands-on mindset, actively building critical parts yourself.
• Strong technical decision-making skills and experience with cross-team collaboration.

Nice to have

• Experience working at a start/scaleup.

Culture & Benefits

• Fully employer-paid pension scheme.
• Hybrid working: 3 days from home with flexible hours.
• Travel reimbursement and 27 vacation days.
• Annual workation abroad.
• Choice of MacBook or Lenovo, plus a training budget and conference visits.
• Daily healthy lunch at the office.
• Work in a deeply engineering-driven culture with a focus on best practices, DevOps thinking, and clean code.