Senior Backend Engineer

Ever imagined saying, "I helped launch the future of transportation"?

We're rewriting the rules of urban mobility. At Vay, customers tap a button and a car arrives - with no one inside - powered by our world-first Remote Driving technology on real public streets.

We're live in Las Vegas and scaling fast, powered by a strategic investment of up to $410 million from Grab. Our mission is simple: replace private car ownership with a faster, cleaner, door-to-door mobility model. If you want to build something real, visible, and genuinely transformative, you'll feel right at home here.

What's happening at Vay

• First to roll out vehicles in both Europe and the USA on public roads without a human being inside & one of only two companies in the States operating a commercial driverless service.
• We've partnered with Kodiak to bring remote-driving technology to autonomous trucks in the Bay Area, showcasing our ability to integrate our system into heavy-duty commercial vehicles and expand the applications of our tech across the US.
• We've completed 10's of thousands of trips so far and are busy multiplying our Las Vegas fleet just to meet demand!
• ...And soon we'll be expanding across the US & Europe 🚀
  
  

Our journey so far since our launch in 2018:

Revolutionary remote driving tech- We built the world's first commercial remote driving product.

Breaking boundaries across continents- First to roll out vehicles in both Europe and the USA on public roads without a human being inside & one of only two companies in the States operating a commercial driverless service.

Vegas fleet on the rise- Our vehicle fleet is scaling fast, from 20 to 100 cars in Las Vegas. We're just getting started!

Watch our CEO, Thomas von der Ohe, deliver a live news segment on CNN - VayDrive

Discover what drives our culture- Explore our core values

Why this role is awesome:

At Vay, we're revolutionizing mobility with cutting-edge remote driving technology, and we need exceptional engineers to bring this vision to life. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in scaling our business and shaping the future of transportation.

This is not your typical backend role - your work will sit at the intersection of deep tech and mobility, tackling challenges that have never been solved before. You'll collaborate closely with a dynamic, cross-functional team spanning product, frontend, mobile, electrical engineering, embedded software, and more. From defining technical requirements to designing, implementing, and deploying solutions, you'll have full ownership over the technology you build - making a real, tangible impact on the company and our customers.

Your contributions will power fleet management, dispatch, payments, and real-time APIs that connect drivers and customers seamlessly. Every line of code you write will help craft a magical user experience, ensuring that remote driving feels effortless, safe, and efficient.

If you thrive on solving complex problems and want to push the boundaries of what's possible in mobility, we'd love to have you on board.

What you'll be driving:

• Design & Develop: Build and maintain scalable Golang-based backend services, APIs, and cloud infrastructure as code - leveraging CI/CD to ensure seamless deployments.
• Elevate Engineering Excellence: Contribute to cross-team platform engineering initiatives, shaping shared best practices, tools, and libraries to drive efficiency and innovation.
• Build End-to-End Solutions: Work closely with frontend, mobile, and embedded teams to craft seamless, high-impact solutions that directly enhance the customer experience and business operations.
• Drive Product & Technical Vision: Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to refine goals, define requirements, and actively contribute to sprint and quarterly planning.
• Own Quality & Reliability: Champion clean code, automation, and continuous monitoring, ensuring robustness, scalability, and a world-class developer experience.
  
  

What are we looking for:

• Backend Expertise: Hands-on experience developing scalable backend services and APIs, preferably in Golang (experience in Java or Python is also highly relevant).
• Cloud & Distributed Systems: Solid understanding of cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, scalability, and reliability best practices.
• Event-Driven Architectures: Familiarity with technologies like Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar event-driven messaging systems.
• DevOps & Infrastructure: Experience with CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and monitoring to ensure robust and maintainable deployments.
• Database Proficiency: Strong knowledge of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), with an understanding of data modeling and optimization.
• Education & Fundamentals: Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM field, with a strong grasp of algorithms and data structures.
  
  

Nice to Have:

• Industry Experience: Background in Mobility, Logistics, or similar domains.
• Mobile-First Products: Experience working on products with a strong mobile integration.
• Additional Tech Stack: Familiarity with Node.js, gRPC, AWS, Terraform, or NoSQL databases.
• Low-Level Programming: Proficiency with C/C++ for performance-critical components.
  
  

Why Vay?

🧠 Genius level team - Work with the smartest minds from over 30 countries around the world in deep tech & automotive

🌍 Huge scope for impact in a fast paced environment

💰 Salary + stock options

🌴 Unlimited Paid Vacation Days

🎫 Subsidised BVG transport ticket (Berlin)

🏋️‍♂️ Subsidised gym membership

🛍️ Exclusive external discounts

🍎 Snacks & Drinks in waterfront Berlin office

🏦 Pension contributions

🎊 Fun team events throughout the year

Introduction to Vay

For more information regarding Vay's physical demands, working environments, and safety requirements, please review this link for additional details. Please note, details of what pertains to this role will be discussed during the initial interview.

We would love to stay connected for future opportunities no matter the outcome so we highly encourage if you have one to share your LinkedIn profile with us when applying.

For more information on Vay's physical demands, working environments and safety requirements, you can review this link. We'll also cover anything specific to this role during the first interview.

We'd love to stay connected for future opportunities, so feel free to include your LinkedIn profile when you apply.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds and experiences. If you're excited about shaping something truly groundbreaking, we'd be happy to hear from you.