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Backend System Engineer

bol

Utrecht
Full-time
5-10 years experience
On-site

Key Skills

Platform Engineering
Systems Engineering
Backend Development
Kubernetes
Google Cloud Platform
GitLab
Spring Boot
GraphQL
CI/CD
Golang
Java
Kotlin
Infrastructure As Code
Observability
Automation
Incident Response

Job Description

How will you make our customers happy? Every feature bol's shop teams produce, whether it's a customer-facing website innovation, an in-app UX improvement, or an update across emerging shopping channels, is built on a backend environment that you help create, cultivate, and evolve. As a System Engineer in ShopCore-BackEnd, you help build, operate, and improve the technical foundation that enables dozens of teams to scale, experiment, and ship with confidence, without having to worry about what's happening under the hood. Every improvement you make in reliability, automation, observability, and platform capabilities accelerates product teams, strengthens the platform, and helps millions of customers enjoy a better shopping experience. Our shop teams are eager to move faster. If you can help make that happen, we'd love to talk to you. The biggest challenge The challenge isn't just adding backend capabilities; it's building and evolving the platform that 55+ teams depend on. Behind every successful feature team is a foundation of reliable systems, scalable infrastructure, automation, observability, and backend services that they can trust. You'll help shape that foundation by solving scalability challenges, improving reliability and engineering effectiveness, and enabling product teams to build and ship faster. You'll work on platform reliability, automation, observability, and operations, while expanding your software engineering skills through backend development and platform evolution. What you do as the System Software Engineer – ShopCore - BackEnd You are part of the ShopCore-BackEnd team, which builds and operates the backend capabilities that enable shop teams to create better consumer experiences faster. Your responsibilities include: Build and operate reliable platform services that support 55+ teams Automate operational processes and reduce manual work through tooling and scripting Improve observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response capabilities Work with Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code solutions Help improve platform reliability, scalability, and security Contribute to backend services and APIs by growing your software engineering skills Collaborate with software engineers, product managers, and other platform teams Explore how AI can help us build and operate a better platform How you can make the difference You have a strong systems mindset and enjoy improving complex technical environments. You may come from a System Engineering, Platform Engineering, or Infrastructure background and want to broaden your impact by combining platform engineering with backend software development. You will join the ShopCore - BackEnd team (:9 engineers), part of the Technical Shop Foundation within the Consumer Journey domain. We run business-critical services where stability matters, while continuously improving our architecture, reducing operational overhead, increasing automation, and exploring how AI can help us build a better platform. The team owns the Shop API (federated GraphQL), the Shop Router and several backend services that form the foundation of bol's shopping channels. You don't need to be a software engineering expert from day one. Curiosity, ownership, and a strong technical foundation matter most. You will work alongside experienced engineers to gradually expand your software engineering skills while helping build and operate the platform that powers bol's shopping experience. Tech stack Kubernetes, Google Cloud Platform, Gitlab, Spring Boot, GraphQL, CI/CD, Golang, Java, Kotlin, AI-assisted development. Something for you? Curious engineer: You enjoy tackling unfamiliar problems, improving complex systems, and learning new technologies. Whether the challenge is reliability, automation, infrastructure, or backend development, you're eager to understand how things work and make them better. Team ownership: You believe great software is built together. You actively collaborate, you take responsibility, share knowledge, ask for feedback, and help your teammates succeed because you know the best solutions come from collective thinking. Growth mindset: You continuously improve yourself, your team, and the way we work. Whether it is refining engineering practices, improving platform reliability, or exploring new technologies such as AI, you are always looking for ways to get better. Nothing for you? Infrastructure-only engineer: You enjoy running systems but have no interest in software development. This role combines platform engineering, operations and software engineering. Curiosity to develop across these areas is essential. Solo performer: You prefer working alone, do not value feedback, and see collaboration as a necessary evil. This team succeeds through teamwork, not individual heroics. Know-it-all: You believe you've already mastered your craft and have little interest in learning new technologies, approaches, or other perspectives. We take pride in our B Corp certification and strive for continuous improvement every day. Our annual bonus is tied to sustainability goals, and we are committed to equality and equal opportunities for all.Perks of having a blue heart 29 days: to recharge Travel costs: Public transport, car, parking & charging covered Pension plan: 75% premium covered Annual bonus: Based on sustainability goals

Core Responsibilities

Build, operate, and improve reliable backend platform services and infrastructure used by more than 55 teams, with a focus on scalability, security, automation, observability, and incident response. Collaborate with engineering and product teams, contribute to backend services and APIs, and explore AI-assisted ways to improve platform development and operations.

Requirements

The role calls for a curious engineer with a strong technical foundation and a systems mindset, potentially from a systems, platform, or infrastructure background. Candidates should be willing to collaborate, take ownership, and develop their backend software engineering skills; no specific degree or years of experience are stated.

Benefits

  • 29 Days Of Leave
  • Travel Costs Covered
  • Pension Plan With 75% Of The Premium Covered
  • Annual Bonus Based On Sustainability Goals

About bol

Industry: Retail

Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees

Bol is the largest online retailer in the Netherlands and Belgium. In 1999 we opened our virtual doors as first online bookstore in the Netherlands. Nowadays we’re working with 2.000 colleagues to deliver the best shopping platform ever. To be able to do this we have expanded our shopping platform in the 20 years of our existence. 2010 was the beginning of bol.com in Belgium. The first step towards our southern neighbors. And we opened our shopping platform to other retailers, for our customers to be able to find ‘everything’ on bol.com. Since 2016 it is possible for our partners to advertise via bol.com. And in 2017 Huub Vermeulen opened the doors of our bol fulfilment center. Shortly: together with 2.000 bol.commers we work to make the daily lives of our customer easier.

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