Backend Software Engineer

Go City is transforming the way people see and experience the world's greatest destinations.

We give our customers total flexibility to choose the experiences, tours and activities they want to visit at incredible savings.

Backed by highly successful Private Equity firm Exponent and headquartered in Covent Garden, London, the business is highly profitable with 3+ million customers globally. We have ambitious plans to leverage these capabilities to drive the business' continued growth. Go City is excited for like-minded, problem-solving individuals to join the team and make their mark on our future.

We listen to our customers, our partners and our team, to help improve our business every day. And that's where you come in For more information and to explore at our products, visit

As a Software Engineer at Go City, you will play a crucial role in developing innovative and robust backend systems that enhance customer city experiences. Your role will involve close collaboration with the Engineering and Product teams to transform project requirements into actionable tasks. You will work with the team on backend designs and services. Proficiency in modern backend technologies and frameworks, along with a commitment to coding standards and learning, is essential. You will share your experience with peers, help foster a collaborative team environment, participating in daily stand-ups and sprints. With professional experience in shipping to production, you will bring an understanding of back end technologies and tackle challenges with a proactive, creative approach.

What the team are up to:

The team is responsible for the development and evolution of foundational backend systems that power every product offered by the company, from passes and products to data pipelines and order management as well as our externally facing B2B trade, reservations and scanning APIs. They are responsible for a number of backend microservices with the capability to release multiple times per day for rapid iteration and deployment. The team takes an approach of building reusable functionalities for other teams to consume and move faster without the cognitive load of thinking about how the core of the system works. They also own multiple frontend portal applications and encourage a curious and collaborative approach to upskilling in the frontend areas. The team is currently working on some exciting innovative features such as pass flexibility and pricing, as well as new product types and pre-purchase reservation journeys.

Our technologies:

• Java / Spring Boot / TypeScript /
• DocDB / PostgreSQL / Kafka
• Playwright / Mockito /Pact / Storybook
• AWS / Kubernetes / Elastic stack / Prometheus / Grafana / Jaeger

All complete tech stack can be viewed here:

Our ways of working:

• Microservices
• Product management
• Scrum
• Knowledge sharing

Our engineering principles:

• High Availability
• Observability
• Performability
• Security
• Testability
• Releasability
• You build it, you run it

What will you be responsible for /helping us to do?

Team Participation:

• Foster an open and collaborative environment by playing an active part in discussions amongst team members.
• Be active in team ceremonies, contributing to discussions, offering viewpoints and technical opinions.
• Uphold our development standards.
• Collaborate with the team to refine project requirements into actionable tasks while ensuring technical feasibility.

Task Execution:

• Work on tasks to successful completion, consistently meeting deadlines and pushing for excellence.
• Maintain testing practices and code quality within the team.
• Maintain excellent coding standards and stick to processes to ensure high-quality backend applications.

We support a culture where Health and Safety, Wellbeing and Personal Data at work are important. We are all adults, which means we expect the same in return. Each of us plays our part looking out for ourselves, each other, our Partners and our customers every day.

As you can see, this role covers a wide range of responsibilities, but we know that our People are more than just their job description. We are a team here at Go City which means there will be plenty of opportunities to stretch your thinking, expand your knowledge and make a contribution to the wider business not reflected here.

What skills do you have that are essential in this role?

Essential:

• Solid experience with at least one modern language including Java
• Professional backend development experience building production-level web applications.
• Good understanding of system architecture and best practices.
• Excels in transforming project requirements into actionable tasks with precision and technical ingenuity.
• Takes ownership of the technical aspects of backend designs and services, delivering high-quality solutions using microservice architecture.
• Proficient in coding, reviewing, testing, deploying, and maintaining robust backend applications and production-level code.
• Experience with backend tooling and build processes.
• Commitment to live and breathe our Company values in the delivery of your role and responsibilities.
• Solid understanding of server-side technologies, including database management, API development, and backend frameworks using Spring Boot.
• Champions exceptional coding practices and software engineering methods.
• Actively mentors and inspires peers, fostering a culture of professional growth and excellence.
• Approaches ambiguous and unexplored problem domains with innovative, creative solutions and a proactive mindset.
• Cultivates open and effective collaboration within the team, nurturing a dynamic and supportive work environment.
• Completes tasks to successful completion ahead of deadlines, ensuring smooth and seamless project delivery.
• Contributes to good testing practices and maintaining exceptional code quality within the team.

Desirable:

• Experience with React, node and FE technologies is desirable.

• Annual Go City Explorer Pass allowance
• Enhanced pension contributions. (5% employer)
• Life assurance: 4x your base salary
• Time off:
• Annual leave: 25 days + bank holidays
• Option to buy additional 5 days annual leave per year
• Floating bank holiday(s)
• Upgraded Family Leave
• 1x Community day. Take a day off to give back to the community
• Work from Anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year
• Health care cash plan
• Personal Learning Budget & dedicated time for development
• EAP providing access to counselling, finance support, etc.
• Cycle to Work Scheme

Go City is the world's largest multi-attraction pass company and was born in Boston and London in 1999 as Leisure Pass. In 2002, we became Smart Destinations International (SDI) and set about launching Explorer Passes in the world's best cities. In 2007 we launched the New York Explorer Pass and not long after, ranked #78 in the Top 500 of Inc. 5000 and #1 in Travel and Hospitality. In 2017, Europe's Leisure Pass Group, USA's Smart Destinations, and New York Pass came together to form the Go City brand.