Team Lead Backend Developer (Node.js)

❗️ Important: This is an On-Site Position in Lisbon❗️

This is an on-site position based at our office in the Lisbon Metropolitan area. Remote or hybrid arrangements are not available once you join the team.

Are you ready for an international move? We are looking for candidates who are either already based in Lisbon or are eager to relocate to Portugal. To make your transition smooth, we provide full relocation support and visa sponsorship for successful international candidates.

📍 See where you'll be working: BrainRocket Portugal

⚡ We are looking for an experienced Team Lead Backend Developer (Node.js) to join our development teams in Lisbon and lead the backend technologies of our systems. This is a highly hands-on role: you will be actively writing and reviewing code, shaping architecture, and driving technical excellence while mentoring your team.

🎯 Your Mission:
Lead a small team of backend engineers, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, high-value, and timely releases. Be deeply involved in coding, system improvements, and architectural decisions, while fostering a collaborative, transparent, and growth-oriented environment.

✅ Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and manage backend engineers through regular one-to-one sessions, feedback, performance evaluations, and individual development plans.
• Actively write, review, and refactor code and directly contribute to building and improving our systems.
• Participate in agile ceremonies (Scrum/Kanban) to ensure team alignment and adherence to agile best practices.
• Enhance system quality by resolving technical debt, optimizing architecture and flows, and performing data cleaning and restructuring.
• Design solutions and make key technical decisions for changes and enhancements.
• Assign tasks and balance workloads within the team to ensure efficient delivery.
• Collaborate with Engineering Managers to adopt the latest technologies and drive company-wide engineering initiatives.
• Document domain knowledge, improve engineering standards, and contribute to initiatives that enhance the broader engineering organization.

✅ Requirements:

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or higher degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of professional backend development experience.
• 3+ years of experience in leadership positions.
• Strong experience with Node.js and modern web development.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes, containers, infrastructure, system design, SQL, and NoSQL databases.
• Experience with RESTful APIs, message brokers, 3rd party integrations, and secure development practices.
• Familiarity with CI/CD, microservices, cloud-based development, and test-driven development is a plus.
• Deep understanding of data structures, coding patterns, and algorithms.
• Experience with agile methodologies, ideally Scrum.
• Excellent problem-solving, diagnostic, and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong leadership, organizational, and mentoring abilities.
• Upper-intermediate or advanced English.

✅ Recruitment Process:

1. Interview with the Recruiter: An introductory conversation to get to know you better, discuss your background, and align expectations about the role and the company.
2. Technical Interview: An in-depth discussion about your technical expertise, hands-on experience, and approach to solving real-world problems.
3. Final Interview with the Hiring Team: A conversation with team members and leadership to assess cultural fit, collaboration style, and alignment with the team’s goals.
4. Offer: If everything goes well, we’ll move forward with a formal offer to join our team.

✅ We offer excellent benefits, including but not limited to:

💻 Learning and development opportunities and interesting, challenging tasks.
✈️ Relocation package (tickets, staying in a hotel for up to 2 weeks, and visa relocation support for our employees and their family members).
📚 Opportunity to develop language skills, with partial compensation for the cost of English and Portuguese language classes (for localization purposes).
🎾 Partial compensation for tennis and padel lessons.
🏀 Urban Sport membership benefit (the most diverse sports and wellness offering in Europe, with more than 50+ activities).
🏥 Private medical coverage, including inpatient, outpatient, dental care, annual check-ups, and maternity support.
🏝 Time for proper rest, with 24 non-business days per year and an additional 6 paid sick days.
🚌 Transport compensation - 200 euros net per month.
📈 Competitive remuneration level with annual review.
🤝 Teambuilding activities.