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Salary: USD 167,000 - 230,000 / annual
Otter is a software platform that powers online food delivery for restaurants worldwide, including major brands like Chick-fil-A, Ben & Jerry's, KFC, and Eataly. The company helps restaurateurs succeed in the digital economy by increasing sales, reducing order issues, and streamlining delivery operations.
As a Senior Backend Software Engineer on the Otter POS team, you will design and scale the backend services that keep restaurant point-of-sale systems running reliably. This includes order orchestration, payment flows, offline-first synchronization, and multi-device coordination across Android tablets in kitchens and at counters. The role requires building systems that maintain consistency even when WiFi drops mid-service—a real constraint in restaurant environments.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design, build, and maintain Java backend services for order lifecycle, payments, device sync, and restaurant workflows
- Design and optimize APIs and event-driven systems to keep POS devices, kitchen displays, and cloud services consistent with low latency
- Build systems that function offline and sync seamlessly across multiple devices in a facility
- Collaborate with Android engineers, product managers, and cross-functional teams to ship systems used in live restaurants
- Maintain high code quality through testing, code reviews, observability, and production ownership
You should have 3+ years of professional software engineering experience with deep understanding of backend system design, APIs, data stores, microservices, concurrency, and distributed systems. A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent is required. While the stack uses Java and Kotlin, engineering fundamentals matter more than specific languages. Experience with relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, CockroachDB, Redis) and cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) is essential.
Preferred qualifications include event streaming/stream processing (Kafka, Flink), experience with ordering systems or payment flows, familiarity with offline-first architectures and sync protocols (CRDTs), and comfort collaborating with mobile engineers. The role is based in Los Angeles with five-day-per-week onsite work required.
