Via is using technology to transform transportation around the world. From changing a single person’s daily commute to reducing humanity’s collective environmental footprint — we’ve got huge goals.
As a Senior Backend Engineer in the Routing team, you will be responsible for designing, building, and scaling the backend systems that power Via’s core products. You’ll work on high-impact, distributed services that manage geospatial data, large-scale databases, real-time events, and mission-critical workflows used across multiple teams and regions. Your work will directly influence system reliability, performance, and developer productivity at scale.
You will collaborate closely with Product, Infrastructure, Data, and other engineering teams to define system boundaries, evolve shared services, and ensure our backend platform can support rapid product growth. You will be part of a highly skilled and motivated engineering group responsible for building robust, scalable, and maintainable backend systems that operate in real time and at high load.
What You’ll Do:
- Design, build, and scale backend systems and data pipelines that power Via’s GIS and mapping platform, from initial design through production deployment and long-term ownership.
- Own features end-to-end with strong accountability, including design, implementation, testing, deployment, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance.
- Develop and maintain Python-based data pipelines that ingest, process, and transform large-scale OpenStreetMap (OSM) and other geospatial datasets.
- Model, store, and query complex geospatial data using PostgreSQL and PostGIS, including road topology, zones, polygons, points, and other business-critical spatial entities.
- Optimize database schemas, spatial indexes, and queries to efficiently handle large datasets and high-throughput workloads.
- Build and maintain backend services and APIs that expose geospatial and mapping data to other backend services, frontend applications, and data consumers.
- Collaborate closely with other backend teams, frontend teams, data teams, and infrastructure to align on data contracts, system boundaries, and cross-team initiatives.
- Improve system reliability, observability, and performance through monitoring, alerting, benchmarking, and continuous optimization.
- Contribute to architectural decisions, technical standards, and best practices, while mentoring other engineers and raising the overall engineering bar.
Who You Are:
- 6+ years of experience in backend software development using one or more programming languages (e.g. Python, Go, Java).
- Strong experience with Python in production systems – advantage.
- Strong experience designing and operating distributed systems in production environments.
- Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to break down complex systems and deliver simple, pragmatic, scalable solutions.
- Solid understanding of databases, data modeling, and performance optimization (SQL and NoSQL).
- Experience working with PostgreSQL with PostGIS or other spatial databases – advantage.
- Experience working with cloud-based infrastructure and production-grade services.
- Experience with geospatial systems, event-driven architectures, AWS, Kubernetes, or high-scale data pipelines – Advantage
- BSc. in Computer Science or equivalent — Must
Compensation and Benefits:
- Joining a global employer with over 700 mobility deployments in 50+ countries
- Becoming part of a company that was awarded for its commitment to social good
- Competitive compensation including equity
- A hybrid working model and a spacious office near Chancery Lane, where you can enjoy weekly team lunches
- Comprehensive health scheme offered through AXA
- Partnership with YellowNest, a salary exchange benefit that helps reduce childcare fees for working parents
We’re Via, and we build technology that changes the way the world moves. We’re driven by a simple mission: to create modern and efficient public transportation systems that provide far greater access to jobs, healthcare, and education. With our best in class suite of products, we make transit thrive.
Our teams of world-class engineers, data-scientists, product managers, operations specialists, marketers, transit experts and more bring cutting-edge AI-powered software and innovative technology-enabled operations to our partners across the globe. Founded in 2012, Via builds solutions to digitize, automate, and enable data-driven decision making for entire transportation networks; fixed-route buses, microtransit, paratransit, school buses, autonomous vehicles, and more.
If you’re excited to be at the forefront of modernizing the future of transportation, are up for solving tough problems, and willing to become/already are a transit nerd, we are the place for you. Even if your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description for this role, we encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other opportunities.
Ready to join the ride?
Via is an equal opportunity employer.
