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Kunai

End-to-end product development for enterprises

Senior Software Engineer

Backend EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeChicago, IL, USANo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • At least 5 years of professional software engineering experience, primarily in Java.
  • Strong working knowledge of relational databases, with Oracle and/or PostgreSQL required.
  • Experience deploying and operating services in containerized environments such as OpenShift, Kubernetes, or equivalent.
  • At least one enterprise-level performance testing engagement, including defining strategy, selecting tooling, executing tests, and presenting findings.
  • Experience with performance profiling, load testing, and bottleneck resolution in high-throughput, distributed systems.
  • Ability to design streamlined test frameworks from scratch and operate with minimal guidance.
  • Understanding of PCI compliance requirements and secure data handling practices.
  • Familiarity with event-driven architecture patterns and OpenShift-based eventing.
  • Ability to work effectively in large, matrixed program environments with multiple teams and stakeholders.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including translating technical complexity for non-technical audiences.
  • Comfort operating in environments with evolving requirements and ambiguity.
  • A Bachelor's degree is required; for each year of college not completed, three years of specialized training and/or progressively responsible technology work experience is required, in addition to the minimum years of experience.
  • For college-degree substitution, specialized training and/or progressively responsible work experience must be in Java or related technologies.

Responsibilities

  • Design and execute enterprise-grade performance testing strategies for payment processing services, defining frameworks, tooling, and success criteria from the ground up.
  • Identify performance bottlenecks across legacy and modern service layers and drive measurable improvements through analysis and targeted optimization.
  • Instrument and validate services running on Java, Oracle, Tomcat, and WebSphere, as well as modern workloads running on PostgreSQL and OpenShift.
  • Collaborate with backend engineers to ensure scalability requirements are met across all environments prior to release.
  • Translate performance findings into clear recommendations for engineering leads and stakeholders.
  • Build and maintain backend services supporting card network integration, primarily using Java, PostgreSQL, and OpenShift Container Platform.
  • Contribute to application modernization efforts by migrating and re-platforming services from legacy infrastructure to cloud-native environments.
  • Use AI-assisted development tooling, including GitHub Copilot, to improve development velocity and code quality.
  • Participate in code reviews, architectural discussions, and cross-team technical planning sessions.
  • Work on PCI data-purging pipelines and event-driven architecture patterns, including token removal and event consumption.
  • Work with event-driven services running on OpenShift and Oracle and PostgreSQL backends to support data lifecycle and compliance requirements.
  • Serve as a flexible senior contributor across teams where engineering depth and experience are needed most.

Desired Qualifications

  • Familiarity with Tomcat and/or WebSphere.
  • Background in digital payments, card processing, or financial services technology.
  • Experience with PGLogical or PostgreSQL logical replication.
  • Exposure to AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot or Claude.
  • Prior work on bank or card network integration programs.
  • Experience working in segregated or air-gapped development environments.

About the Company

Kunai

End-to-end product development for enterprises

Kunai is a software development partner that helps established companies and fast-growing startups turn ideas into scalable, shipped digital products. It combines engineers, designers, and product managers to take concepts from napkin sketches to live products used by millions, offering end-to-end execution and long-term partnerships. Unlike some vendors that work in silos, Kunai emphasizes enduring collaboration—evidenced by a long-term relationship with Capital One that led to a partial acquisition and a portfolio spanning four major payment networks, four top-ten US banks, seven Fortune 500 technology companies, and ten unicorn startups. The company’s goal is to turn ideas into reliable, scalable products and maintain lasting relationships that help clients grow."

Company size
51-200
Company stage
Not listed
Total funding
Not listed
Headquarters
San Ramon, CA
Founded
2001

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