Senior Java Backend Engineer

Toronto, ON, Canada

Full Time

Engineering

Experienced

Who we are

At illumin, we are transforming the advertising landscape. Our platform offers an integrated space for journey planning, execution, and reporting. It empowers marketers to connect with their audiences in powerful ways through real-time data and easy-to-use visual tools. By seamlessly combining media planning and buying in an intuitive interface, marketers can take complete control of their campaigns, meeting customers wherever they are in the buying journey and maximizing the impact of their ad spend through personalized insights for smarter decision-making.

We are at a pivotal moment, evolving into a product-led company with a team of over 100 skilled professionals and new leadership guiding our path forward. By harnessing the power of data, advancing our AI capabilities, and deeply investing in our people, we are preparing for a future that will redefine what’s possible in journey advertising.

Our work is guided by two beliefs: that the ability to execute is paramount to success and that we are only as good as our people. As we grow and transform, we are looking for team members (illumineers) who share our bias for speed, delivery over perfection, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Joining us now is a chance to be part of our transformation.

Who we need

Reporting to the Director of Platform Engineering, we are looking for a Senior Java Backend Engineer. You will play a pivotal role in advancing the impact of our AdTech platform and delivering critical projects that bring significant value to operations. As a strong individual contributor, you will design and develop scalable systems, working directly with the architecture team and advising on broad technical decisions that impact our backend tech stack. You will collaborate across technical pillars and provide expertise to guide junior team members, ensuring adherence to best practices through rigorous code and tech spec reviews.

This is a hybrid opportunity, working Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays on-site in our downtown Toronto office. Our headquarters are located within minutes of St. Andrew and Union subway stations.

What's in it for you

Impact. You are driven to change an industry by delivering on a platform and features that clients actively seek out and value. Our customers recognize and value our relentless focus on driving their success. As part of a small engineering team within a publicly traded, product-led company, you will play a pivotal role in shaping a product revolutionizing the industry.

Technical exposure. Our platform processes nearly 110 billion requests daily, driving programmatic traffic globally across all devices, streaming services, and out-of-home targeted advertising. Working with data at this scale is a rare opportunity, and the code you write will reach an audience comparable to those of the world’s largest tech companies. This is an opportunity to be part of a development team with the autonomy to choose how they work and code, taking ownership of introducing and adopting new tools and executing with excellence.

Professional development. You want to grow - your skills, your influence, your career. We push the limits to improve and to reach our full potential, individually and as a company. We are committed to building the strengths of our team. You will be supported by your manager & team and have access to one-on-one coaching with our Chief Empowerment Officer's team. Your accountabilities, learning opportunities, and scope for ownership and career growth will rapidly expand as we continue to step up to meet the increased value and shifting needs for AdTech.

How you will make an impact:

Be a key contributor. You will drive critical projects that deliver real value to our customers, contributing to platform and feature development on a large, distributed system that handles 1.5 million requests per second with 120ms response times. You will design and improve key components, focusing on performance and scalability, while monitoring code to ensure it meets user needs and business goals. You will tackle the most challenging production issues while being a role model for less experienced developers on the team.
Guide technical decisions. You will lead decisions that shape the backend tech stack. You will work closely with stakeholders and senior engineers to solve technical challenges and optimize system performance. You will take ownership of projects, from planning to delivery, ensuring solutions address technical and business needs while tackling technical debt.
Enhance Agile processes. You will participate actively in Agile Scrumban practices, breaking down tasks and collaborating in daily stand-ups. You will help the team navigate challenges, size efforts, identify improvements, and share insights that enhance project delivery from start to finish.
Prioritize quality. You will participate in code reviews, analysis, and performance tuning. You will apply various automated testing methods in a continuous integration environment, resolving defects and bugs during pre-production, production, and post-release patches. You will directly influence the outcome quality by identifying process & behavioural gaps, suggesting and driving improvements to avoid, mitigate or delegate risks.
Mentor and grow the team. You will work with urgency, embrace mistakes, learn from them, and drive the team toward success. As a senior team member, you will offer guidance and coaching to junior developers and contribute to the team’s success at every opportunity. With time, you will also take part in the recruitment process of other engineers.

What you bring:

The technical expertise. You bring experience with Java and Spring, and have a deep understanding of building highly available, high-performance systems. You are skilled in optimizing web application performance across the stack, with hands-on experience in Kubernetes, Docker, and Microservices. You are comfortable working with relational databases and key-value stores, proficient in SQL, database schema design, and infrastructure, and familiar with NoSQL databases. Your expertise also extends to Unix/Linux environments, design patterns, and functional programming, with a working knowledge of networking, concurrency, and Big Data concepts (e.g., Hadoop, HDFS, or Druid).
The experience. You are passionate about building technical solutions and thrive on simplifying complex challenges. You have worked closely with Product and Design teams to design, implement, and iterate on impactful end-to-end product experiences.
The interpersonal skills. You take a collaborative approach and lead by example. You can translate complex technical details to non-technical audiences and build trusting relationships across teams, whether in-person or remotely. You adapt quickly when priorities shift, embrace feedback, and are comfortable navigating ambiguity. You value diverse experiences and perspectives.
The growth mindset. You are naturally curious, eager to learn from others as well as independently. You acknowledge mistakes, learn from setbacks, and are resourceful in applying new knowledge to solve problems. You stay current with the latest tools and best practices, driven by a passion for continuous improvement.

What else should you know about us?

We are undergoing a transformative shift. We are embracing change and the opportunities that come with it, empowering every illumineer to innovate, experiment, and bring forward new ideas. Whether accessing new technology, restructuring workflows, or expanding your team, you will have full support if you can make the business case.

We are a broad and diverse team, but we all share a passion for success, a drive to do more, and a love of creating connections. We hire for talent and commitment and provide the guidelines and guidance to elevate skills, knowledge, and abilities across all areas. This is a place where proven methods meet bold ideas, offering opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

To support a healthy work-life balance, we offer a flexible work environment, a meal credit for your in-office days, and a free massage with an RMT in-house every eight weeks. That is in addition to our comprehensive benefits, which include life, AD&D, long-term disability insurance, and coverage for prescriptions, dental, vision, mental health, and professional health services. You will also have access to a workplace advisor, the Vitality Wellness app, and a $300 annual healthcare spending account.

Apply now

If you want to seize the opportunity to impact a company and influence an industry, and you have 70% of what we are looking for, apply now. We can't promise an interview, but we will consider your whole application.

What you can expect from our interview process:

A virtual interview with a Talent Advisor will discuss your interest in the role and background.
A virtual technical interview with the Hiring Manager which will involve a pair coding exercise.
An in-person technical interview with a Senior Developer. This will also be your opportunity to ask any further questions about the role, team and product trajectory.

illumin is firmly committed to diversity within its community and welcomes applications from racialized persons/persons of colour, Indigenous People of North America and the world, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, and those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

We are committed to providing equitable opportunities in employment and to providing a workplace which is free from discrimination and harassment. We are equally committed to providing an inclusive and accessible workplace. If you require accommodations at any stage of the interview process, please email us at [email protected].

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Help us maintain an inclusive culture.

We want anyone, anywhere to have the same chance and opportunity to build a life they love and that they are proud of. We are proactive in creating a belonging environment that anyone can be a part of. Thoughtful, data-driven decision-making is core to this success. We ask these questions to strengthen our practices by using data to identify and mitigate unconscious bias in our hiring process.

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"Indigenous peoples" means First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples of Canada.*

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