Locus The Software Factory

Software Development Engineer 3 (Backend)

Who We Are :

We're Locus. We move the world's goods.

Our algorithms have optimized over 1 billion deliveries. We're the enterprise TMS trusted by IKEA, Unilever, UPS and some of the largest supply chains on the planet. Backed by Ingka Group (IKEA's parent), we're building a composable, multi-modal transportation management system that's redefining logistics technology.

We're not hiring to fill seats. We're hiring builders who build for other builders.

What You'll Do :

You own the backend end to end. Design doc to deployment. Production to on-call. Here's what that looks like day to day :

- Architect and ship backend systems that run in production at enterprise scale.

- Build fault-tolerant services with clear SLIs/SLOs, strong observability, and predictable performance.

- Drive design and implementation for microservices and distributed workflows messaging, async processing, retries, idempotency.

- Work closely with a team both Biological and Digital comprising Product, Frontend, QA/SDET, DevOps/SRE, and Data teams to turn business requirements into robust systems.

- Raise engineering standards through design reviews, code reviews, and operational best practices.

- Mentor junior engineers and lead by example on craft, ownership, and execution.

What You Bring :

Must-Haves :

- 5+ years building production backend systems SaaS or product environments preferred.

- Strong fundamentals in distributed systems, concurrency, reliability, and scalability.

- Deep experience with Java, Spring / Spring Boot preferred.

- Proven track record designing and building REST APIs and microservices.

- Working knowledge across the stack : relational + NoSQL databases, messaging (Kafka/RabbitMQ), caching (Redis/Memcached).

- Strong debugging instincts, you resolve complex production issues with clarity and ownership.

- Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) and modern practices : CI/CD, automated testing, observability.

- Track record of shipping and coding and not just planning.

Strong Signals - We Actively Look for These :

Degrees don't tell us much. These do :

- You've built something on your own time, open source, side project, internal tool.

- You've contributed to a top open-source project.

- You've filed a patent or published research.

- You've written technical content others reference, or spoken at a conference.

- You've competed in or completed something grueling, ultra-marathon, Ironman, competitive programming, hackathon wins.

We don't fill seats. We hire builders who build for other builders.

What We Don't Care About :

- Which college you went to. Seriously.

- Whether your resume has Big Tech logos.

- How many years you've held exactly this job title.

We care about what you built, why you couldn't stop, and how you think.

The Stack :

- Languages : Java, Kotlin, Python, TypeScript, Spring / Spring Boot

- Infrastructure : AWS, Kubernetes, Kafka, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch

- Data / ML : Spark, Airflow, optimization engines (routing, ETA, slotting)

- Scale : 350+ deployments, 30+ countries, billions of deliveries, high-volume daily computations

Why Locus is different :

This isn't a perks list. It's a contract between Locus and people who build.

01. Inference Compute Budget - For Builders Who Ship :

- Every engineer gets $5,000/year in AI/LLM inference credits. The budget is the baseline, you need more we have it for you!

02. Patent Premium - Your Name on It. Permanently :

- File a patent at Locus, your name stays on it for Eternity. Check our Patents and patents holders.

03. Lifetime Royalty Program - Build the Builders :

- Build an internal tool that automates a process or makes us more efficient? Locus pays you a royalty, not just while you're here, but even after you leave.

04. Excellence Beyond Code :

- Ironman, ultra-marathon, national-level sport, FIDE 2000+, we see these as signals of craft, grit, and finishing. They matter to us.

05. Open Source Bounty :

- Active contributor to a top-1000 GitHub repo? Joining bonus. Active maintainers get dedicated 20% time to keep contributing.

06. Conference Speaker Fund :

- Accepted to speak at a global conference? We cover travel, registration, and stay. No questions asked.

07. 1 Billion Deliveries on Your Resume :

- You can truthfully say : "My code optimized 1B+ deliveries across 30+ countries." We verify it.

08. Alumni Network That Doesn't Forget You :

Leaving Locus? You still get a reduced compute budget ($1K/yr), alumni summit access, referral bonuses, and a fast-track to re-hire.

Apply :

Send us :

- Your GitHub / portfolio / anything you've built - required. More important than your resume.

- A one-liner on why Locus interests you.

"We don't hire the best people and tell them what to build. We hire builders and get out of their way." - Locus Engineering