Sr. Software Engineer, Backend

Navan
New York, NY
On-site

Who this role is best for

Backend engineers with microservices experience and a product mindset will find this role in a fast-growing travel tech company.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 6+ years of experience in enterprise-scale distributed systems and microservices
    — “6+ years of software engineering experience building and operating highly scalable, distributed production systems at an enterprise or global scale.
  • Individuals who have led large-scale technical initiatives and set architectural standards
    — “Proven track record of driving technical vision and leading the architecture of large, multi-team projects from inception through to successful production rollouts.
  • Engineers with strong expertise in backend stacks and event-driven architecture
    — “Deep technical expertise in backend engineering stacks such as Java, TypeScript/Node.js, Python, or Go, alongside a strong mastery of engineering fundamentals.

Things to consider

  • Compensation range is wide, indicating potential for performance-based increases
    — “Compensation is higher for those who exceed targets.
  • Candidates should be prepared for potential AI-assisted resume screening
    — “Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role.

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with event-driven workflows and distributed databases in your resume
    — “Extensive hands-on experience designing microservices, complex APIs, event-driven workflows (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ), caching strategies, and distributed databases.
  • Demonstrate a product mindset by emphasizing long-term technical health in past roles
    — “Product mindset with the ability to balance immediate product delivery with long-term technical health and scalability.
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

Skills & requirements

Required

High-performance MicroservicesFault-tolerant SystemsAsynchronous Event-driven ArchitecturesDistributed DatabasesSystems ObservabilityProduction Debugging

Preferred

Travel PlatformsFintechPayment ProcessingComplex Financial Ledgers

Stack & domain

Backend EngineeringMicroservicesApisEvent-driven ArchitecturesDistributed DatabasesSystems ObservabilityLeadershipProblem-solvingCommunicationTravel And Expense PlatformLoyaltyPersonalizationAI Agents

About the role

Original posting from Navan

Navan is building the next generation of intelligent travel experiences, where loyalty, personalization, and AI agents help travelers make better decisions before, during, and after every trip. As a Senior Software Engineer (Backend), you’ll drive the technical vision, architecture, and execution for the highly available, distributed services that form the backbone of Navan’s global travel and expense platform.

What You’ll Do:

Architect Core Backend Systems: Design, build, and scale high-performance, fault-tolerant microservices that process millions of travel and expense transactions globally.

Lead Technical Initiatives: Drive complex, cross-functional engineering projects from conception to deployment, making critical architectural trade-offs and setting technical standards for the wider backend organization.

Optimize Performance & Reliability: Build robust APIs, asynchronous event-driven architectures, and scalable data pipelines with a relentless focus on low latency, high availability, and operational excellence.

Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner closely with product management, engineering leadership, data, and platform teams to translate ambiguous business requirements into cohesive, enterprise-grade technical solutions.

Raise the Engineering Bar: Champion maintainable code, thoughtful abstractions, and rigorous testing. Act as a force multiplier by mentoring engineers, leading architecture reviews, and fostering a culture of strong operational ownership.

What We’re Looking For:

6+ years of software engineering experience building and operating highly scalable, distributed production systems at an enterprise or global scale.

Deep technical expertise in backend engineering stacks such as Java, TypeScript/Node.js, Python, or Go, alongside a strong mastery of engineering fundamentals.

Extensive hands-on experience designing microservices, complex APIs, event-driven workflows (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ), caching strategies, and distributed databases.

Proven track record of driving technical vision and leading the architecture of large, multi-team projects from inception through to successful production rollouts.

Exceptional skills in systems observability, production debugging, and ensuring the reliability of critical Tier 1 services.

Product mindset with the ability to balance immediate product delivery with long-term technical health and scalability.

Experience with travel platforms, fintech, payment processing, or complex financial ledgers is a strong plus.

The posted pay range represents the anticipated low and high end of the compensation for this position and is subject to change based on business need. To determine a successful candidate’s starting pay, we carefully consider a variety of factors, including primary work location, an evaluation of the candidate’s skills and experience, market demands, and internal parity.

For roles with on-target-earnings (OTE), the pay range includes both base salary and target incentive compensation. Target incentive compensation for some roles may include a ramping draw period. Compensation is higher for those who exceed targets. Candidates may receive more information from the recruiter.Pay Range$113,400—$252,000 USD 

Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers. 

Human oversight: Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application. 

Your rights: If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email here. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated. 

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.

Source: Navan careers

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