Role Summary
D GROUP is building its internal Technology Unit from the ground up and is seeking a Backend Engineer / Senior Backend Engineer to help establish the backend foundations of a new digital capability.
This role is intended for a strong hands-on engineer who can design and implement reliable backend systems, contribute to sound technical decisions, and support the delivery of business-critical digital platforms. The successful candidate will join at an early stage of the Technology Unit’s development and will have the opportunity to contribute not only to product delivery, but also to the shaping of engineering standards, system structure, and technical discipline.
This is not a pure architecture role and not a people-management role at the outset. It is a delivery-focused position for someone who combines solid engineering execution with practical judgment and ownership mindset.
Key Purpose of the Role
The Backend Engineer / Senior Backend Engineer will be responsible for designing, building, and supporting backend services and APIs that power transactional and operational digital platforms within the Group. The role will contribute to the creation of maintainable and scalable systems while helping establish strong engineering practices in a build-from-zero environment.
Reporting Line
The role will report to the Head of Technology / Technology Leadership and will work closely with frontend engineering, product/business analysis, and relevant business stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Backend Engineering and Delivery
- Design, develop, test, and maintain backend services using Java and Spring Boot
- Build clean, maintainable, and well-structured APIs for transactional and operational systems
- Translate business and functional requirements into robust backend implementations
- Model and implement business domains, workflows, and system logic with clarity and discipline
- Ensure backend solutions are reliable, secure, and fit for production use
- Support integration with internal and external systems where required
Technical Design and Quality
- Contribute to backend architecture decisions within a pragmatic engineering model
- Work within a modular monolith approach designed for maintainability and future evolution
- Write clean, testable, and well-documented code
- Participate in code reviews and promote sound engineering practices
- Help identify and manage technical risks, design trade-offs, and implementation constraints
- Support quality assurance through unit testing, integration testing, and release readiness
Collaboration and Team Contribution
- Work closely with frontend engineers, product/business analysts, and technology leadership
- Contribute to technical planning, estimation, and backlog refinement
- Communicate technical decisions and implementation considerations clearly
- Support the development of engineering standards, conventions, and delivery discipline
- Operate effectively in an environment where structure and process are being actively established
Platform and Operational Readiness
- Contribute to deployment readiness and production stability
- Support the use of Docker-based environments and cloud deployment models
- Help implement logging, monitoring, and basic observability practices
- Participate in issue analysis, troubleshooting, and production support where needed
- Contribute to documentation that supports maintainability and continuity
Candidate Profile
Required Experience and Qualifications
- Minimum 5 years of relevant backend development experience, ideally 7+ years in production backend systems
- Strong hands-on experience with Java and Spring Boot
- Solid understanding of REST APIs, backend application design, and service-oriented patterns
- Strong experience with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases
- Experience building production-grade backend systems with real operational or business impact
- Good understanding of transactional workflows and backend data integrity considerations
- Ability to write clear, maintainable, and well-structured code
- Strong problem-solving ability and practical engineering mindset
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with others
- Good written and verbal communication skills
Preferred / Nice-to-Have Experience
- Experience with Docker
- Experience with cloud-based deployment environments
- Familiarity with observability practices such as structured logging, metrics, and tracing
- Experience with payment-related, operational, commerce, ticketing, or workflow-driven systems
- Experience working in a build-from-zero or scale-up environment
- Familiarity with modular monolith architecture patterns
- Exposure to CI/CD practices and release processes
- Experience collaborating closely with product or business stakeholders
Personal Attributes
- Strong ownership mindset
- Pragmatic and delivery-oriented
- Able to work effectively in ambiguity without creating unnecessary complexity
- Comfortable balancing technical quality with business priorities
- Disciplined in execution and documentation
- Collaborative, professional, and solution-focused
- Interested in contributing to a growing internal technology capability rather than only operating within an already mature engineering structure
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role will include:
- Contributing meaningfully to the delivery of the Group’s first flagship digital platforms
- Building backend systems that are clean, maintainable, and scalable without overengineering
- Helping establish strong engineering foundations and backend discipline within the new Technology Unit
- Supporting a practical architecture approach that enables future growth
- Demonstrating the ability to take ownership of backend components and become a trusted technical contributor as the team expands
Growth Opportunity
This role is designed with room for progression. Depending on the individual’s performance, capability, and the evolution of the Technology Unit, the position may grow over time into broader technical ownership such as:
- senior backend ownership
- technical lead responsibilities
- solution design ownership
- Wider Architecture Contribution
The immediate focus, however, is on strong hands-on backend delivery and sound engineering judgment.
Why Join DGroup
This is an opportunity to join at a foundational stage and help shape a real internal technology capability with visible business impact. The role offers meaningful ownership, direct contribution to business-critical platforms, and the chance to help define how engineering is built within the organization from the ground up.
