Senior Backend Engineer

At Newzoo we're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our team.

Location
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

FTE
Full Time, hybrid (3 days per week in the office)

Employment Type: Initial fixed-term contract for 12 months. This role starts with a 12-month fixed-term contract, in line with company policy and common Dutch employment practice.

About the role

You’ll join our Engineering team as a senior individual contributor with a primary focus on backend systems and data infrastructure. You’ll design and improve the services, APIs, and pipelines that power our products, while collaborating with colleagues across platform and infrastructure when needed.

This role is best suited to someone who enjoys solving real product and data problems in a stable, well-understood stack. Because this is a senior role, we’re looking for someone who can take ownership of production systems and contribute thoughtfully to technical direction. You do not need to be a gamer, but you should be interested in working on meaningful data challenges in the games industry.

Your responsibilities

Design and build backend services and APIs that power our analytics platform and client-facing products

Improve and extend data pipelines that ingest millions of data points from gaming platforms and partners

Strengthen reliability, observability, performance, and cost efficiency across our systems

Contribute to architectural decisions and help shape scalable technical solutions

Partner with engineers across backend, data, and infrastructure to solve cross‑functional problems

Support engineering quality through code review, technical discussion, and collaboration

Use AI‑assisted development tools such as Claude Code and Cursor as part of your day‑to‑day work

Our engineering environment

We primarily work with Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL, BigQuery, dbt, Airflow, Kubernetes, and GCP. Our stack is deliberately stable so engineers can focus on solving important product and data problems, improving quality, and building systems that last.

Your profile

Senior professional experience building and operating production Python services

Strong experience with Flask or a similar Python web framework, and REST API design skills

Strong understanding of analytical data systems, including experience with BigQuery and PostgreSQL

Experience designing and operating data pipelines or ETL workflows in production

Good judgment around reliability, scalability, and operational quality

Comfortable with modern CI/CD practices and version control

Commitment to testing, maintainability, and clear technical thinking

Based in The Netherlands

Availability to work hybrid from our Amsterdam office 3 days per week

Nice to have

Kubernetes and containerised deployment

Task queues such as Celery

Experience with gaming platform APIs such as Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Nintendo, or Epic

dbt experience at meaningful scale

Interest in games or the games industry

Our offer

Join an Ambitious Team
Be part of a young, energetic team with endless opportunities to grow within the company.

Hybrid Work Setup
Enjoy the flexibility of working from our Amsterdam office or home, with work‑from‑home reimbursements, internet reimbursement, travel reimbursement, and catered lunch in the office.

Summer Hours
Enjoy reduced working hours during the summer period.

Flexible National Holidays
Swap national holidays for the days that matter most to you.

Additional Holidays
Purchase extra days off at 50% of the cost, on top of your standard holiday allowance.

Work from Anywhere
Freedom to work from another country for up to 6 weeks every year.

Industry Leaders
Collaborate directly with industry leaders, shaping the future of games, hardware, media, and tech.

Fun Culture
Experience a fast‑paced, collaborative, fun‑loving, and transparent culture.

Personal Development
Benefit from a personal development budget of €1500, plus tools and opportunities to grow your career.

Awesome Team Events
Enjoy team outings, in‑office celebrations, and more.

Health & Wellness
Access a physical activity budget.

Mental Wellness
Get unlimited access to mental wellness support through OpenUp.

Pension Plan
We invest in your future with a comprehensive pension plan.

And More
There's always more to discover!

We believe great talent comes from all backgrounds.

We welcome applications from people of all genders, identities, experiences, and perspectives.

If you're excited about this role but don't meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply. Research shows that women and people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply unless they meet 100% of the criteria. We don't expect anyone to tick every box - we value potential, curiosity, and diverse experiences as much as specific qualifications.

If this role interests you, we'd love to hear from you