RiseMe
LoginSign Up
Spotify logo
Spotify Verified
Music Streaming, Audio Entertainment, Technology, Digital Media

Senior Backend Engineer - Subscriptions

London, United KingdomHybridFull TimeSeniorPosted 2 months ago

Is this role right for you?

Upload your resume and get a skill-by-skill breakdown — see exactly where you match, where you're close, and what to highlight. Not a mystery percentage.

Get a tailored resume highlighting what this role needs.

Role summary

Spotify's Subscriptions Mission team is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to build and evolve systems that enhance user discovery, trial, and subscription to Spotify. This role involves designing, building, and maintaining scalable backend services with a focus on high availability and low latency. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, take ownership of production services, and contribute to technical direction and system architecture. The position also requires supporting and mentoring engineers on the team. The ideal candidate has experience with Java, distributed systems, cloud platforms (GCP/AWS), and API development, along with a strong understanding of operational ownership and reliability.

The Subscriptions Mission team builds and evolves the systems that help listeners discover, try, and subscribe to Spotify. From awareness to activation, retention, and conversion, we create seamless experiences that connect users with the value of Spotify at every step of their journey.
 
You’ll join a team within the Subscriptions R&D organization, focused on shaping the full user journey at Spotify. We work on how people discover Spotify, understand its value, and ultimately become long-term listeners. By bringing together engineering, product, design, research, and marketing, we move quickly to build meaningful, scalable experiences that reach millions of users worldwide.

What You'll Do

  • Design and architect backend systems that power new user-facing features across the subscriptions journey
  • Build, deploy, and maintain scalable services with a focus on high availability and low latency
  • Collaborate closely with mobile engineers and cross-functional partners across Product, Data Science, User Research, and Design
  • Take ownership of services in production, including monitoring, reliability, and participating in an on-call rotation
  • Contribute to technical direction and improve system architecture to support long-term scalability
  • Support and mentor engineers on the team, helping raise the bar for engineering quality and collaboration

    •  

Who You Are

  • You have experience building backend systems using Java and are comfortable working across modern backend technologies
  • You have strong computer science fundamentals and experience developing complex, distributed systems at scale
  • You have worked with cloud platforms such as GCP or AWS and understand how to design cloud-native architectures
  • You are experienced in designing and developing APIs and systems in collaboration with stakeholders
  • You are comfortable working across cross-functional teams and can independently drive projects forward
  • You have experience running services in production and understand operational ownership, reliability, and performance
  • You are curious, adaptable, and motivated by solving meaningful problems that impact millions of users

    • Where You'll Be

  • This role is based in London or Stockholm
  • We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! There will be some in person meetings, but still allows for flexibility to work from home.
    • Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens.

    At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.

    Spotify transformed music listening forever when we launched in 2008. Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the chance to enjoy and be passionate about these creators. Everything we do is driven by our love for music and podcasting. Today, we are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service.

    Sample Spotify interview questions

    • 1

      Design a Spotify friends activity feed

      system designaverage
    • 2

      Design a data pipeline for Spotify's recommendations.

      system designaverage
    • 3

      Design an Ad Banner Delivery System

      system designmedium
    • 4

      How would you apply algorithms to Spotify functionality? Implement an existing feature during a system design exercise.

      codingaverage
    • 5

      Design the backend architecture for Spotify

      system designmedium

    Sign up for a personalized interview prep pack tailored to this role.

    Ready to apply?
    You'll be redirected to Spotify's application page.

    Similar roles