Senior Backend Engineer - SE3

At eBay, we're more than a global ecommerce leader — we’re changing the way the world shops and sells. Our platform empowers millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We’re committed to pushing boundaries and leaving our mark as we reinvent the future of ecommerce for enthusiasts.

Our customers are our compass, authenticity thrives, bold ideas are welcome, and everyone can bring their unique selves to work — every day. We're in this together, sustaining the future of our customers, our company, and our planet.

Join a team of passionate thinkers, innovators, and dreamers — and help us connect people and build communities to create economic opportunity for all.

The eBay Auctions engineering team is on a multi-year journey to modernize one of eBay’s most iconic commerce experiences: auctions. Our mission is to bring the thrill of the game back to auction by building a real-time, trusted, and scalable platform that powers curated discovery, vibrant community, and fair bid play - where each item’s true market value can win out.

This role sits at the heart of that transformation.

You will help build and evolve eBay’s next-generation auctions platform, a real-time, highly available backend system that powers both eBay Live Auctions and traditional auction experiences. This is a latency-sensitive, large-scale commerce platform where correctness, resiliency, scalability, and customer trust are critical.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer who brings strong ownership, solid distributed-systems knowledge, customer empathy, and a passion for improving how teams deliver. You will independently drive meaningful projects end to end, collaborate across teams, challenge assumptions respectfully, and help the team increase engineering velocity through better design, testing, automation, observability, and thoughtful AI adoption.

• Build and operate scalable, low-latency backend systems that power eBay’s next-generation auctions platform.
• Own features and services end to end, from design through launch, observability, and production support.
• Turn ambiguous product and customer problems into simple, reliable technical solutions.
• Collaborate across engineering, product, design, and analytics to deliver high-impact customer outcomes.
• Improve team velocity through better architecture, testing, automation, observability, and AI-assisted engineering practices.
• Raise the engineering bar through code reviews, technical documentation, mentoring, and thoughtful design discussions.

• 4+ years of software engineering experience building backend or distributed systems.
• Strong experience with Java, Spring/Spring Boot, REST or GraphQL APIs, messaging systems, and SQL or NoSQL data stores.
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, scalability, availability, latency, and production operations.
• Strong ownership and ability to independently drive projects from idea to production.
• Sound technical judgment, clear communication, and the ability to respectfully challenge assumptions.
• A customer-focused mindset and a bias for improving how the team builds, tests, ships, and supports software.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience with GraphQL is preferred.
• Experience with event-driven systems, stateful platforms, or real-time systems is a plus.
• Experience improving development velocity through AI-assisted engineering practices is a plus.

A mission with real impact.

You’ll help modernize one of eBay’s most iconic commerce experiences and shape how millions of buyers and sellers participate in real-time auctions around the world.

A meaningful platform challenge.

You’ll work on a distributed, latency-sensitive backend platform where architecture, correctness, performance, and customer trust all matter.

A culture that values ownership and collaboration.

We thrive on openness, diversity, and shared success. You’ll join a team that values respectful debate, strong execution, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

Room to grow.

You’ll have the opportunity to deepen your expertise in distributed systems, grow as a technical leader, mentor others, and help define the future of auctions at eBay.

Flexibility and support.

We embrace flexible, remote-friendly work and offer competitive compensation and benefits designed to support your wellbeing and help you do your best work. Learn more at https://www.ebaybenefits.com/index.html

Additional Details

The base pay range for this position is expected in the range below:

Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including location, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a target bonus and restricted stock units (as applicable) in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including RRSP eligibility, various paid time off benefits, such as PTO and parental leave). Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

This job posting relates to an existing vacancy within eBay.

eBay is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability, or other legally protected status. If you have a need that requires accommodation, please contact us at [email protected]. We will make every effort to respond to your request for accommodation as soon as possible. View our accessibility statement to learn more about eBay's commitment to ensuring digital accessibility.

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