Staff Backend Software Engineer

Hopper

Staff Software Engineer focusing on backend systems for AI-driven travel solutions at Hopper. Collaborating with senior engineers to improve a multi-tenant travel commerce engine.

Posted 6/30/2026full-timeRemote • 🇨🇦 CanadaLead💰 CA$150,000 - CA$400,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in distributed system development, particularly in Scala, while effectively driving product decisions and architecting scalable solutions. Capable of managing AI-assisted workflows and ensuring productive development through well-defined guardrails and feedback loops.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Distributed System DevelopmentScala ProgrammingAI Workflow ManagementProduct ThinkingArchitecting Scalable Solutions

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Distributed System DevelopmentScala ProgrammingAI Workflow ManagementSystem ArchitectureCodebase Improvement

Soft Skills

Product ThinkingDecision MakingDocumentation SkillsCollaborationAutonomy

Industry Keywords

AI AgentsAutomated WorkflowsCustomer ExperienceFeedback LoopsGuardrails

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Scala

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Identify and execute improvements to the codebase that make it easier for both humans and AI agents to move fast and ship safely.
Work with a group of senior engineers in a low-process environment powered by trust and autonomy.
Drive decisions and consensus asynchronously with thoughtful documentation and specs.
Own features end-to-end — from the backend systems to the partner-facing surface.
Architect scalable solutions and foundational patterns that let us efficiently launch new partner experiences.
Work directly with PMs and business partners to define and refine our roadmap.

Requirements

What you’ll need

A natural drive to fearlessly dive into an unknown codebase and deliver results fast.
Strong product thinking — your conception of quality and architecture is anchored in the customer experience, not in technical elegance for its own sake.
The ability to direct AI agents and automated workflows to build and maintain complex systems, and the judgment to know when to step in and when to let them run.
Experience designing the guardrails and feedback loops that keep AI-assisted development productive and reliable.
Experience with, or a mastery-level willingness to learn, distributed system development in Scala.
The ability to articulate not just how you'd solve a problem, but why, and what tradeoffs you're accepting.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Hopper covers 100% of the premiums for group insurance plan.
Hopper offers life, short term and long term disability coverage.
HSA that covers eligible medical and dental expenses.
All employees and dependents have access to Dialogue’s telemedicine services, anytime, anywhere.
All employees have access to an RRSP plan with automatic pre-tax withdrawals per pay.
Very generous parental leave, much above industry standards!
Unlimited PTO.
Carrot Cash travel stipend.
Access to co-working space on demand through FlexDesk AND Work-from-home stipend.
Entrepreneurial culture where pushing limits and taking risks is everyday business.
Open communication with management and company leadership.
Small, dynamic teams = massive impact.