Lead Backend Engineer

Royal Bank of Canada•Toronto, ON

7d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced Lead Backend Engineer to join our engineering team and take ownership of building high-performance, scalable backend systems for mission-critical applications. This role requires deep expertise in designing and implementing RESTful and GraphQL APIs that interact with graph and non-relational databases in high-throughput, low-latency environments, with strong focus on microservices architecture and distributed system patterns.

Requirements

8+ years of professional software development experience with expert-level proficiency in Spring Boot 2.x/3.x and Java (Java 11+) and understanding of Spring ecosystem (Spring Cloud, Spring Data, and Spring Security)
Strong experience building RESTful APIs and GraphQL APIs in production environments
Expert knowledge of microservices design patterns and distributed system architectures
Hands-on experience with non-relational databases (MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Cosmos DB) and graph databases (Neo4j, Amazon Neptune, or similar)
Production experience with Apache Kafka for event streaming, triggering, and emission
Strong experience with Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform and knowledge of cloud-native architectures, containers (Docker, Kubernetes), and microservices
5+ years of experience in banking or financial services industry with experience with payment systems, transaction processing, or core banking platforms preferred
Knowledge of distributed transaction patterns in financial services
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to architect complex technical solutions
Excellent communication skills with ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
Self-motivated with strong ownership mindset and accountability for deliverables

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of observability tools (Splunk, Dynatrace, Prometheus, Grafana)
Understanding of security best practices (OAuth2, JWT, mTLS, encryption, secrets management)
Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies and DevOps culture
Knowledge of chaos engineering and resilience testing practices
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain high-performance RESTful and GraphQL APIs for enterprise-scale applications
Build and optimize systems that handle high-throughput workloads with sub-millisecond latency requirements
Architect and implement microservices using Saga pattern, CQRS, Event Sourcing, and other distributed system patterns
Design solutions using graph and non-relational databases (e.g., Neo4j, MongoDB, Cosmos DB, DynamoDB)
Implement event-driven architectures using Kafka for event triggering and emission
Ensure system reliability, scalability, and performance across distributed systems
Design and implement distributed transactions using orchestration-based and choreography-based Saga patterns
Lead and mentor a team of backend developers, fostering technical excellence and professional growth.
Conduct code reviews and establish best practices for API design, data modeling, and system architecture.
Provide technical guidance and support to team members on complex technical challenges
Own end-to-end delivery of backend products and features from conception to production
Take ownership of developed products, ensuring quality, performance, and maintainability.
Collaborate with product managers, architects, and stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
Drive technical decisions and advocate for architectural improvements.
Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and technical design discussions

Benefits

A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits
competitive compensation
commissions
stock where applicable
Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities
Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team
A world-class training program in financial services
Flexible work/life balance options
Opportunities to take on progressively greater accountabilities
Access to a variety of job opportunities across business and geographies