Software Engineer or Senior Software Engineer, Ads Backend

Sorry, this job was removed at 12:10 p.m. (CST) on Monday, Mar 09, 2026
Be an Early Applicant
Tokyo, JPN
In-Office
Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Software
The Role
About SmartNews 

SmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. Thanks to our unique machine-learning technology and relationships with more than 3,000 global publisher partners, we provide news that matters to millions of users.

Founded in 2012 in Tokyo, SmartNews also has offices in Osaka (Kansai Office), Palo Alto, New York and Singapore.

If you share our vision and are passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply!

The Team

Ads is the lifeblood of the company. Ads Product Backend team is responsible for making our ads products more profitable and sustainable by means of ads Measurement, Targeting, Ranking and Auction in a high traffic ads delivery system with 10M+ users.

The Role

In the Ad world, speed is the name of the game. You will develop ads product features in a high throughput low latency application that serves Ads. You will work on proactive, innovative, creative problem solving for system improvements which will result in profitable ads-ecosystem and generation of relevant Ads system.

Responsibilities
  • Participate in the iteration of architecture design of robust and scalable online/offline backend systems for state-of-the-art ads delivery system, including
    • Measurement: collect and attribute various types of events, measurement and monitor ads performance
      • improve our system for measuring ads performance stats (impression, click, conversions) across wide range of scenarios (e.g. app, web, video)
      • develop and maintain data pipelines for processing ads signals for various downstream usage (e.g. CTR, CVR)
    • Ranking Backend: better ads prediction and delivery
      • end-to-end ad delivery backend: aggregation (filters and pre‑ranking), accurate prediction and bidding in ranking/auction, and post‑auction allocation
      • cooperate with AdsRanking(machine learning engineers) closely
    • Premium Ads: offer guaranteed visibility, better positioning ads
      • reservation-based, CPM-sold campaigns with fixed impression units and periods, shown at the top of selected channels
    • Targeting & CustomAudience: great matching between users and ads
      • Develop and maintain data pipelines to process user signals used for different user targeting options
  • Work closely with teams like Ads Ranking(Machine Learning team), Ads Foundation and other Ads/DP/AiInfra teams to deliver high quality ads

Requirements

Minimum requirements

  • BS degree or above in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Science (physics or mathematics) or other relevant majors
  • 3+ years experience in developing backend systems for high traffic web services
  • Advanced skill and experience in at least one programming language. Prefer Java, Kotlin, Golang. Open to C++, C#, Python.
  • Fluent in using Kafka, Redis, SQL and some NoSQL DBs
  • Business level English

Nice to have experiences/skills

  • High programming skills in Java, for example, failure analysis and class/interface design
  • Experience of architecture design in a high traffic web service
  • Configuration, development and operation of a Microservice / Service Mesh architecture
  • Experience in Github, AWS, SpringBoot, MySQL, Hive, Spark, Flink, Docker, Kubernetes
  • Experience in large scale data processing techniques
  • Have basic understandings of machine learning, statistics, and various mathematics at a liberal arts level
  • Experience in leading a whole lifecycle of a project; clarification of the motivation and the goal, definition of the system design, develop and release it, and learning from the result
  • Leadership experience (such as technical lead or management role) in a fast growing company
  • Skill and will to partner with internal business people to define product strategy and features; for example, ads product managers or ads product specialists
  • Experience in advertisement / Ad Tech industry
  • Possible to use Japanese at a business level

Related Links

  • Click here or visit our careers site to check employee interviews

Working condition

  • Office Location: Tokyo

Click here or visit our careers site for more info.


Benefits

Benefits available at the SmartNews Tokyo Office

  • All healthcare and social insurance required by the Japanese labor law, plus annual health check
  • Visa sponsorship and overseas relocation support available for eligible candidates

Click here or visit our careers site for more info about our benefits. 

Similar Jobs

Appier Logo Appier

Senior Software Engineer

Artificial Intelligence
Easy Apply
In-Office
2 Locations
642 Employees

BlackRock Logo BlackRock

APAC Information Security Officer, VP/Director, Japan

Fintech • Information Technology • Financial Services
In-Office
Tokyo, JPN
25000 Employees

CrowdStrike Logo CrowdStrike

Consultant

Cloud • Computer Vision • Information Technology • Sales • Security • Cybersecurity
Remote or Hybrid
4 Locations
10000 Employees

Datadog Logo Datadog

Technical Support

Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Security • Software • Cybersecurity
Easy Apply
Hybrid
Tokyo, JPN
6500 Employees
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo
519 Employees
Year Founded: 2012

What We Do

Created to deliver high-quality news from a wide variety of trusted publishers in one place, the SmartNews team works tirelessly to help readers feel good about being informed. Since the beginning, our mission has been clear: to deliver the world's quality information to the people who need it. We firmly believe that valuable, reliable news should be accessible to everyone. Utilizing cutting-edge AI technology alongside the expertise of seasoned news professionals, the SmartNews app is used by millions of people, earning thousands of 5-star ratings. Behind our success stands a diverse and passionate global team working to provide a well-rounded and comprehensive news experience for every reader. Curious about joining our world-class team? Explore career opportunities and stay updated on the latest by following our page.

Similar Companies Hiring

Fairly Even Thumbnail
Software • Sales • Robotics • Other • Hospitality • Hardware
New York, NY
Bellagent Thumbnail
Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Business Intelligence • Generative AI
Chicago, IL
20 Employees
Kepler  Thumbnail
Fintech • Software
New York, New York
6 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account