Top Hat is hiring for a Senior Backend Software Engineer on our Aktiv Platform team. This is a great opportunity to drive force behind the technical excellence of our ecosystem. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, leading the delivery of complex features and ensuring the stability of our high-traffic systems. This role is designed for an engineer who is not only a master of their craft in Java and Spring Boot but also a dedicated mentor and a proactive problem-solver.
You will:Independent Implementation: Lead the full software development lifecycle for complex features, including implementation, comprehensive testing, and debugging of robust code.
Technical Leadership: Drive the technical delivery of projects, influencing architectural decisions and ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with long-term business goals.
Mentorship & Guidance: Actively mentor junior and intermediate engineers, providing constructive feedback through code reviews and documentation to support their professional growth.
Operational Excellence: Proactively identify operational risks and control deficiencies. Drive discussions regarding system redundancy, disaster recovery, and service availability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Frontend Engineers, Product Managers, and Designers to build cohesive, user-centric solutions.
Process Innovation: Identify opportunities for automation and suggest UI improvements to enhance the overall user experience and internal delivery efficiency.
Expert Java Foundation: Extensive experience with Java and a deep understanding of core programming principles and best practices. Proven expertise in Spring Boot for building scalable microservices and experience managing data with MongoDB.
Enterprise Experience: A track record of working on enterprise-level software systems that require high reliability and performance.
Architectural Vision: Ability to design and implement forward-thinking architectures that balance short-term value with long-term sustainability.
Quality Focused: Strong commitment to delivering testable, observable, and maintainable code.
High-Traffic Systems: Experience designing and maintaining systems that handle high volumes of traffic and parallel connections.
Open Source Passion: A demonstrated passion for contributing to or leveraging open-source technologies.
UI/UX Awareness: A keen eye for user interface improvements and the ability to contribute to frontend-related technical discussions.
Infrastructure & Cloud: Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) and containerization tools like Jenkins, Docker, or Kubernetes.
Why team members love working at Top Hat:
A noble mission that creates meaningful, fulfilling work
A team that cares deeply for customers and for each other
Flexible, remote first work environment
Professional learning and development for all role levels
An awesome and welcoming Toronto HQ
Competitive health benefits that start on day one
A management team focused on performance, growth, engagement and connection
Our winning strategy and market potential
Innovative PTO policy with lots of time and space for self-care
Passionate customers that believe in us—and what we do
A chance to work with new tech like generative AI—and see the customer impact
Inclusion Statement:
Inclusion at Top Hat goes beyond compliance; it’s how we build better teams and better technology. Our Equal Opportunity Employment policy helps ensure a workplace where people of all backgrounds are respected and empowered, regardless of culture, national or ethnic origin, race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, religion, family status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.
Accessibility Statement:
We want every candidate to have an equitable experience. If you require assistance or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please reach out to us at [email protected]. By fostering an inclusive and supportive environment, we unlock collaboration, innovation, and personal growth across our global Top Hat community.
AI in Hiring:
To help streamline our hiring process, we may use AI-powered tools for tasks such as application screening, resume review, or response assessment. These technologies support our recruiters by improving efficiency, but human judgment remains central. Final hiring decisions are always made by people.
Skills Required
- Extensive experience with Java
- Proven expertise in Spring Boot for building scalable microservices
- Experience managing data with MongoDB
- Track record working on enterprise-level, high-reliability software systems
- Ability to design and implement forward-thinking architectures balancing short- and long-term goals
- Deliver testable, observable, and maintainable code
- Lead full software development lifecycle including implementation, testing, and debugging
- Mentor junior and intermediate engineers and provide constructive code review feedback
- Proactively identify operational risks and drive discussions on redundancy, disaster recovery, and availability
- Experience designing and maintaining high-traffic systems (preferred)
- Open-source contribution or active use of open-source technologies (preferred)
- UI/UX awareness and ability to contribute to frontend technical discussions (preferred)
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP) (preferred)
- Familiarity with CI/containerization/orchestration tools (Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes) (preferred)
- Experience or interest in generative AI technologies (preferred)
What We Do
Top Hat is a higher education teaching app that makes active learning come to life. Our suite of easy-to-use tools address four teaching challenges: student engagement; textbook affordability and customizability; student comprehension; and secure test administration. More than 3 million students at 750 of the top 1,000 colleges and universities in North America have used Top Hat.
