Backend Software Engineer

Hello!

Thanks for checking out our job description for a Backend Software Engineer at Impala.

At Impala we're making the world a better place for guests, hotels, and online travel agents of any size. Think Twilio or Plaid for Travel.

Right-click on this link to find out more about progression, wellness, culture and benefits, and more, at Impala. We think it's a pretty great place to work, and we're proud to share some insight as to why.

A brief overview of what you will be doing here:

Brace yourself for some bullet points

• You'll be a key contributor to our API and data ingestion platform, ensuring that it keeps scaling smoothly as we rapidly add more users and features.
• You will be given a lot of responsibility for evolving the infrastructure and picking the right tools for the job.
• Mentor other team members through pair programming, code reviews, and ad-hoc assistance.
• You will work closely with other engineers but also product and business teams to deliver a product that's technically first-class and loved by our customers.
• Have significant decision making power on the technologies and architecture that we use to build the platform.

You should join us if you:

• Have experience working on a large-scale platform, handling large volumes of data throughput.
• Have strong experience with Node.js and good knowledge of JS fundamentals.
• Have experience working with relational and non-relational databases, as well as queuing systems.
• Are comfortable working closely with product owners and other engineers to define the best way to implement features with high technical standards.
• You share our organisational vision of democratising travel and enabling innovation across an entire industry.
• You share our passion for the highest-quality code and won't settle for anything less.
• You thrive on excellence, autonomy and questioning conventional wisdom.

What Is Impala?

At Impala we make it ridiculously easy for innovators to integrate with hotels, via our (frankly delightful..) API's.

This democratises access for hotels and innovators alike, enabling and encouraging more innovation in travel. We believe the industry can, should and will do better, and we're going to be at the centre of that... Bring on the travel tech revolution!

We're currently a team of 70 in total. Since December we have 10x'ed our number of hotels (now up to 2000), launched two new products and 20x'ed the load on our services. This has required us to almost double our tech team over the same period (now 30).

And that is very much only just the beginning.

This is where you come in, there are big challenges a-plenty as we scale up and evolve, which are going to require some talented folks to solve.

You'll be joining an intrepid team of 30, led by our VP of Engineering Ed Taylor. The team is currently split into 4 squads, each formed to tackle a particular business problem, with an engineering and product manager at the helm.

Our stack: Javascript / Typescript, NodeJS / NestJS / NextJS, React, Postgres, AWS, MongoDB, RabbitMQ

We'd love to intro you to some of our Exec team here at Impala.
Our CEO, Ben Stephenson
Our CMO, Caroline Hudack
Our Chief of Staff, Jo Conneely

Why Impala?

• We're revolutionising an out-of-date 1.6 trillion dollar market. This means we're reimagining what travel can and should look like - and you can be a part of that.
• We're building a product of Stripe-level quality and reliability.
• We're an innovation-bent and product-obsessed team (who don't take ourselves too seriously).
• We've been remote-first since 2017 and know how to do it. We care about thinking deeply about the workplace.
• We've always optimised for quality over quantity when expanding our team. We have Star teams full of Star players across the board.
• We're supported by some of the most respected investors in the business, the early-stage backers behind Deliveroo, SecretEscapes, Trivago, Transferwise, and Airbnb.
• We offer lofty progression opportunities for all Impalans.
• Our Async work environment offers more flexibility, less pressure, and a better work-life balance.
• We're clear on our mission to enable innovators to build the world's most incredible travel experiences.

We also have a benefits package that's second-to-none and a wonderful community and culture. Check out our deck and our careers page for more on that.

Where will you work?

We are a remote-first and asynchronous company. This was a very deliberate, natural choice, as we prioritise preserving work-life balance and accommodating the best people in Europe, whilst also fostering diversity.

We employ anyone within +/- 2h from GMT, timezone wise for now (expanding globally in the future).

You can check out everything we offer to set up your perfect remote work environment here.

And if Relocation excites you - we offer (and encourage!) that opportunity too.

What about the Covid-shaped elephant in the room?

Covid-19 has forced almost every industry in the world to adjust in 2020, and none more so than the travel industry. It is however, an exciting time to be in Travel Tech; with endless opportunities opened up for innovation meaning the industry won't be going back to how it was. Hotels and innovators are no longer satisfied with the status quo, and players across travel tech have been busy giving themselves a make over during Covid.

Backed by some of Europe's leading investors, we're on the cusp of launching a product that will connect people and travel once again.

Sound interesting?

If you want to learn more about us, check out our Blog and our Culture Deck.

For more information about what it's like working here, check out our Glassdoor page.