Senior Backend Engineer - Kotlin

Senior Backend Engineer (Kotlin/GCP)

6 month contract initially, Outside IR35, Fully remote role (UK/Europe)

A leading global consumer technology company is building products that prioritise safety, equity, and meaningful user experiences. They are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer with strong technical judgment, a high sense of ownership, and the ability to drive work forward even when requirements are not fully defined.

You'll work primarily with Kotlin and Google Cloud Platform, helping to design, build, and evolve Back End systems that support products used by millions of users worldwide. This role suits someone who thrives in ambiguity, executes with focus, and elevates teams through clarity, momentum, and example.

What You'll Do

Design, build, and operate reliable, scalable Back End services using Kotlin

Own and evolve systems running on GCP, contributing to architecture, reliability, observability, and cost optimisation

Take loosely defined problems and translate them into clear, actionable technical plans

Lead Back End initiatives from concept through production and iteration

Proactively identify and resolve blockers across technical, process, and cross-team boundaries

Collaborate closely with product, mobile, platform, and other Back End engineers

Raise standards for code quality, system design, testing, and documentation

Contribute to a culture of learning, inclusion, and thoughtful engineering

What We're Looking For

Strong experience building and maintaining production Back End systems in Kotlin

Hands-on experience working with Google Cloud Platform in live environments

Proven ability to create clarity and momentum in ambiguous problem spaces

A pragmatic, execution-focused mindset balanced with long-term architectural thinking

Strong communication skills and a collaborative approach to problem-solving

Nice to Have/Bonus

Experience with or exposure to PHP, particularly in Legacy or hybrid environments

Ability to collaborate effectively with PHP engineers and support incremental system evolution

Interest in mentoring or upskilling teammates in Kotlin and GCP

Experience helping teams adopt or improve cloud best practices

Background working on high-scale, consumer-facing platforms