Senior Backend Engineer (m/f/d) – Kotlin/Spring Boot/AWS

Axel Springer National Media & Tech is the central technical hub that ensures our journalism is supported by cutting-edge technology so that our brands can succeed in the digital age. Our corporate strategy places AI at the center: “Digital is the new print. AI is the new digital.” This vision reflects our belief that the fusion of artificial intelligence and human creativity will shape the future of media.

You’ll join a fast-moving, cross-functional mobile native team of Android, iOS, and backend developers — the creative force behind Germany’s leading news apps: BILD News, Sport BILD, WELT News, and WELT Edition, reaching millions of users every month. Are you open to trying new things? Are you confident, driven and clever? Then apply for a role now with Axel Springer National Media & Tech.

We believe in the future of journalism as a business model and invest in forward-looking technologies.

Our five essentials are the values that unite us and guide us in our commitment to freedom.

How you'll make an impact

• take end-to-end ownership of our backend services to deliver scalable, reliable systems powering our mobile experience
• architect and implement robust backend solutions with Kotlin, Spring Boot, AWS, and Kotlin-based AWS Lambdas ensuring long-term performance and maintainability
• ensure reliability and operability of your backend services by optimizing monitoring, logging, metrics, alarming, and overall service health
• collaborate with our MaPS platform team to deploy and operate workloads on Kubernetes using modern, developer-friendly infrastructure
• develop and document clean, efficient APIs for seamless integration with other teams and products across our ecosystem
• act as a mentor and sparring partner for Android and cross-functional team members on backend topics to boost collaboration and knowledge sharing
• broaden your skill set by exploring Android or iOS development and gaining insight into the full product vertical
• play a key role in shaping technical vision, aligning architecture decisions, and continuously improving processes for greater product impact
  
  

What you'll need

• at least five years of hands-on experience as a backend or software engineer, ideally in JVM-based backend systems
• fluent in Kotlin and experienced with Spring Boot, having built and operated production-grade backend services
• solid track record working with AWS cloud technologies (including Lambda and container-based workloads), plus familiarity with cloud-native patterns like IAM, S3, and messaging services
• interested in Kubernetes, understanding concepts like deployments, observability, and containerized workloads
• strong commitment to code quality, maintainable architectures, testing and long-term system ownership
• enthusiasm for monitoring, transparency, and building systems that are easy to operate
• proven strength in mentoring colleagues, building cross-team relationships, and actively promoting knowledge sharing in diverse environments
• strong communicator who translates complex technical topics for product managers, designers, and fellow engineers
  
  

What we offer

• your personal growth is important to us: we offer trainings and learning lunches, tech conferences, a budget for workshops and much more to expand your knowledge and your skills
• Employee offers that suit you and your life situation: Whether it's a discounted public transport ticket or JobRad leasing, a bicycle garage (incl. regular bicycle service), childcare facilities or two modern in-house kindergartens
• 30 days vacation plus 10 days work from abroad
• our free food offer: in addition to a breakfast snack, we also offer a free lunch in our canteens
• we offer guidance on the administrative side of relocation and visa processes through our relocation agency
• collaboration thrives on direct exchange - we rely on 80% office presence and 20% mobile working
• from now a permanent full- or part-time position in a modern office in the heart of Berlin: http://www.axelspringer-neubau.de/
  
  

Questions and answers about the application process

The most frequently asked questions and their answers can be found on our FAQ page: career.axelspringer.com/en/faq

Diversity is an essential part of our corporate culture! We are looking forward to receiving all applications regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity.

You can find information about the representation for the severely disabled at Axel Springer here: https://career.axelspringer.com/en/rsde

Contact person for this position (reference number REF2655E) is Marcel Burmester