Senior Backend Engineer - Cards

SumUp builds simple, affordable financial tools that help small businesses get paid, manage their money, and grow. Beyond payments, we offer a number of financial products - including business banking, card products, lending, and invoicing — giving merchants everything they need to manage their payments and finances in one place.The Cards squad is a core part of that, owning the systems that power card issuing, lifecycle management, and transaction processing for merchants across Europe. We handle millions of card transactions every day, and we're now scaling those systems to support new product capabilities while laying the foundations for a more global, resilient platform. That's why we're growing the team and looking for a seasoned backend engineer who can take real ownership of complex, high-impact work. If you want to build systems that genuinely matter to small businesses and you're excited by the technical depth that comes with high-throughput, distributed architecture, this is the role for you.
🎥 Get a feel for our Berlin office here.
What you'll do

Own and lead the end-to-end delivery of backend services within the Cards EU domain, including observability, testing, and production support
Contribute to the technical roadmap by participating in architectural discussions and proposing solutions for complex, distributed systems challenges
Raise well-scoped pull requests, conduct thorough code reviews, and help maintain high standards of code quality and test coverage across the team
Collaborate closely with engineers in adjacent squads and with the product manager to shape and refine the squad backlog
Participate in incident reviews and the on-call rotation, taking accountability for the reliability of the services you build
Apply and champion AI tooling to accelerate engineering workflows, and help raise the team's overall AI literacy

You'll be great for this role if…

Solid, hands-on experience delivering production-ready backend services end-to-end, including testing, monitoring, and maintenance, on a modern cloud-native stack
Production experience with Kotlin and interest in working with a number of other languages (Java, Golang and Elixir)
Solid understanding of distributed systems, API design, data modelling, and working with relational databases
Hands on experience in containerisation, orchestration, and CI/CD practices
Ability to take an ambiguous product problem, define the technical approach, and lead it through to implementation with minimal guidance
Comfort working across teams and communicating clearly in written and spoken English in a professional setting
Genuine curiosity about the product domain — comfortable applying a backend lens during feature refinement and thinking beyond the code to understand how your work shapes the user experience

Why you should join SumUp

🌎 Opportunity to work with SumUppers globally on large-scale fintech products used by millions of businesses worldwide, from our Berlin office. This involves an office-first setup
🌈 Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced
🚀 Enrolment onto our Virtual Stock Option programme: you will own a stake in SumUp's future success
📚 A dedicated annual L&D budget of €2000 for your individual development, which can be used to attend conferences and/or advance your career through further education
💶 A corporate pension scheme where we match up to 20% of your contributions
🏖 Generous time off: enjoy 28 days of paid leave plus public holidays and special leave days
🏃 Numerous other benefits such as Urban Sports Club subsidy, Kita placement assistance, subsidised office lunches
🌴 Break4me: 1-month sabbatical after 3 years of service
🔗 Referral Bonus: earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team

About SumUp
Be empowered to do more that matters.
At SumUp, we're on a mission to empower small businesses across the globe by providing simple and affordable tools that allow them to thrive. Today, over 4 million businesses in 37 markets rely on SumUp as their financial partner to manage payments, finance and customer relationships.
Our commitment to small businesses is reflected in our diverse team of over 3,000 SumUppers from over 90 nationalities, united by global collaboration and an innovative mindset. Our core values lay the foundation for who we are and what we stand for, shaping our work culture and driving our success. We foster inclusivity and a continuous learning culture, providing a safe space for personal and professional growth. Our differences make us unique and strong as we strive to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels supported, no matter how they identify.
SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, actively seeking and embracing diversity in our workforce. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by company policy. Our commitment extends beyond recruitment to creating a safe and respectful workplace where harassment of any form is strictly prohibited. Discover more about our culture and opportunities on our careers website, and follow our journey on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.Job Application Tip
We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don't tick every box, it's ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.