Java/Kotlin Software Engineer

You'll be part of a talented team solving real-world challenges at the intersection of biometrics and identity management. Our development culture values clean architecture, quality code, strong ownership, and meaningful work.

Innovatrics is an EU-based, independent provider of biometric software trusted by governments and enterprises across 80+ countries. With a track record of top rankings in global benchmark evaluations and over a billion people processed using our technology, we build the kind of software that genuinely matters — making digital identities secure, reliable, and accessible worldwide.

AI Disclaimer: We are an AI-positive company — we embrace AI tools and actively explore how they can make our work smarter and faster. At the same time, we believe that great software is still built by great engineers. We expect our people to leverage AI to its full potential while bringing the expertise and judgment needed to critically evaluate its outputs, catch what it misses, and make sound decisions based on real understanding. That's why we invest both time and money into training and upskilling our engineers — helping them transform and grow alongside this technology. We see it as a win-win: it's good for their careers and good for us as a company.

In your first months, you’ll...

• Get hands-on with our technical infrastructure, architecture, and workflows written in Java and Kotlin
• Start building relationships across teams and functions
• Deliver small bug fixes and enhancements to help you become familiar with the system.

As you settle into the role, you’ll...

• Contribute actively to the development and optimization of team’s components.
• Participate in the design of new features and API improvements.
• Collaborate with engineers across teams to ensure high performance, scalability, and clean architecture.

Within your first year, you’ll...

• Lead technical discussions and implement complex features
• Mentor junior engineers and help shape coding standards and best practices.
• Influence long-term technical strategy and continuously improve our stack

At Innovatrics, we build biometric technologies for elections, border control, digital ID, and secure onboarding in 80+ countries. Our algorithms have reached over a billion people. 

Your work here won’t get lost in a backlog; it’ll shape real-world systems that matter. 

We’re a small team, so your ideas ship fast. From day one, you’ll build production features and shape global-scale projects within weeks.

Required locations:

• Bratislava office
• Hybrid - 2 days in-office / 3 days remote

You are an experienced Java or Kotlin software engineer (prior Kotlin experience is a plus, but not required — we’ll help you get up to speed!). You’re someone who thrives in a culture of ownership, autonomy, and continuous improvement.

You are:

• Proficient in backend software engineering, ideally with experience in distributed systems and API design.
• Comfortable working independently and collaboratively on challenging problems.
• A team player who values humor, openness, and thoughtful communication.

• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand complex systems and explain technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proven experience in backend development using Java and/or Kotlin, ideally with knowledge of gRPC, REST API, and distributed systems.
• Understanding of multi-threading and parallel programming, with experience of debugging concurrent systems.
• Collaborative mindset with experience working in cross-functional teams, code reviews, and agile development environments.
• Proactive and independent, with a high sense of ownership and a willingness to mentor others and continuously improve coding standards and team practices.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with basic DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, Docker, or Kubernetes
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and their services
• Understanding of observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry)
• Exposure to security best practices for APIs and distributed systems

You'll be working with a modern backend stack designed for performance, observability, and developer productivity:

• Languages & Frameworks: Java, Kotlin, Spring Boot, Ktor
• Communication & APIs: REST APIs with OpenAPI, GraphQL, gRPC with Protocol Buffers
• Build Tools: Maven, Gradle
• Observability: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, Tempo, Loki
• Testing: JUnit
• DevOps & Tooling: GitLab CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes
  Team Productivity: Jira, Confluence
  

Here is the typical interview process for this role:

👋 Introduction Stage (~30 min.)

• Recruiter Screen

🧑‍💻 Team Interview Stage   (~120 min.)

We have a one single interview round that takes approximately 2 - 2,5  hours and is divided into two stages:

• Pre- interview stage : home assignment received and sent back beforehand. Time expected for the preparation 2-2,5h hours. The assignment is to be solved through agentic coding.

• Part 1: Technical Interview (60 min)
  An interactive session with our technical team, focusing on your homework results, problem-solving approach and technical knowledge relevant to the role.

• Part 2: Practical Collaboration (60~90 min)
  A practical session - whiteboard task regarding the system architecture. 

🎯 Final Stage

• CARES Interview: Final conversation with our CARES committee to ensure alignment with our core values—Collaboration, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Shared Mission.
• Reference checks and background verification

We encourage candidates to request additional conversations with anyone they would like to meet.

📊 This role is Medior / potentially Senior level. 

At Innovatrics, we offer highly competitive salaries because we value top talent who share our values and goals. Compensation is determined based on your level, skills, experience, qualifications, and location.

💶 Salary gross from: €3,100 up; tied to competency & technical evaluation, and seniority of the candidate.

📈 Beyond base pay, we provide an attractive benefits package. You can learn more at : https://careers.innovatrics.com/benefits/

Learn more about our culture, values, and what it’s like to work at Innovatrics: 

https://careers.innovatrics.com/