Backend Engineer II

# Senior Backend Engineer – Kotlin ## About the Role Rivero is a fast-growing European company headquartered in Switzerland and a Visa Fintech Partner specialising in SaaS solutions for fraud recovery, dispute management, and payment scheme compliance. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will work on **Kajo**, a distributed application built around event sourcing and used by Rivero's customers and internal scheme compliance experts. You will develop new functionality, improve the existing codebase, design new parts of the technology stack, and build tools that support operational users. The role is primarily backend-focused, with Kotlin as the main backend language, while also offering opportunities to contribute to frontend and end-to-end tasks. AI-assisted development is an important part of the team's daily engineering workflow. ## Key Responsibilities * Develop new features and improvements for Kajo. * Maintain and improve existing codebases by identifying technical pain points and proposing solutions. * Develop tools that help internal users manage operational workloads. * Lead the design and implementation of new components of the technology stack as product requirements evolve. * Use AI coding tools as a core part of the daily engineering workflow. * Help the team improve the effective use of AI coding tools to increase development speed and code quality. * Contribute to occasional frontend tasks and end-to-end development when required. * Share technical knowledge and experience with fellow engineers. * Develop high-quality cloud and web applications. * Consider edge cases and implementation details carefully, particularly within the regulated fintech and payment scheme compliance environment. * Collaborate effectively within a distributed, product-focused engineering team. ## Required Qualifications * Professional software engineering experience developing cloud and/or web applications. * Experience with distributed web applications. * Experience with relational databases. * Experience designing application APIs. * Regular, hands-on use of AI coding tools in day-to-day engineering work, such as Claude Code. * Ability and willingness to work outside a strictly backend-focused scope when needed, including frontend tasks or end-to-end testing. * Strong attention to detail and edge cases. * Effective communication and collaboration skills. * Kotlin experience is relevant to the role, but candidates without Kotlin experience may also apply if they meet one or more of the following: * Proficiency in another JVM language. * Exceptional expertise in a modern backend programming language. * Ability to work comfortably beyond the boundaries of a specific language framework. * Confidence in learning Kotlin with minimal guidance. * Willingness to take on a technical challenge in Kotlin. ## Preferred Qualifications * Experience with event sourcing systems and/or CQRS. * Experience with GraphQL. * Familiarity with Go. * Familiarity with TypeScript and Vue.js. * Broader frontend development experience. * Familiarity with infrastructure or DevOps technologies used at Rivero. ## Skills & Competencies * Kotlin and backend development * Distributed web applications * API design * Relational databases * Event sourcing and CQRS * GraphQL * AI-assisted software development * Cloud and web application development * Frontend and end-to-end development * Technical design and implementation * Debugging and problem-solving * Attention to detail * Edge-case analysis * Technical knowledge sharing * Cross-functional and distributed-team collaboration * Ownership and continuous improvement ## Education & Experience **Education:** * No specific degree or formal education requirement is stated in the original job description. **Experience:** * Professional software engineering experience is required. * Experience with distributed web applications, relational databases, and API design is required. * Experience using AI coding tools in daily engineering work is required. * Kotlin is the primary backend language; equivalent JVM or strong modern backend experience may be considered. * Event sourcing/CQRS, GraphQL, Go, TypeScript/Vue.js, frontend, infrastructure, and DevOps experience are valued. ## Work Arrangement & Schedule * **Location:** Zurich, Switzerland * **Work Arrangement:** Hybrid/flexible * **Office:** Rivero's Zurich office near Oerlikon station * **On-site:** On-site presence in Zurich is preferred. * **Remote:** Remote candidates are welcome if they operate within a timezone reasonably aligned with Zurich. * **Schedule:** No specific weekly hours or weekend requirements are stated. ## Compensation & Benefits * Five additional days beyond the annual holiday allowance for volunteering or community work. * Flexible technology and hardware setup. * Mobile subscription allowance. * Stock options and ownership opportunities. * Access to co-working spaces in select locations. * Frequent peer-led academy sessions and learning opportunities. * Regular social events. * Bi-annual company events in Zurich. * Dog-friendly office. * Collaborative workspace located approximately two minutes from Oerlikon station. * International startup environment with opportunities for ownership and professional growth. ## Technical Environment **Kajo Backend:** * Kotlin * Go * Axon Framework * Event Sourcing * Ktor * GraphQL * Hasura * jOOQ * Flyway * PostgreSQL * NATS * Keycloak **Other Technologies:** * TypeScript * Vue.js * Java * Kotlin * Go * Scala * Rust * Haskell * Docker * Kubernetes * Terraform * GitLab CI * Elastic Stack * Prometheus * Traefik * Vault * Google Cloud Platform * Nix ## Compliance / Additional Information * **Company:** Rivero * **Industry:** Fintech / Payments * Rivero was established in 2019 and is headquartered in Switzerland. * Rivero is a Visa Fintech Partner. * The company provides SaaS solutions for fraud recovery, dispute management, and payment scheme compliance. * The role operates within a highly regulated payments environment where attention to detail and edge cases are particularly important. * Rivero follows an open-book management approach focused on transparency, ownership, collaboration, continuous improvement, and growth.