About this role.
Alma is seeking a senior backend engineer to build and operate payment APIs and platform components serving merchants and consumers across Europe. The role emphasizes production-grade Python engineering, relational databases, system reliability, security, performance, and architectural evolution in a regulated fintech environment. The successful candidate will bring at least eight years of large-scale backend experience, fluency in French, solid English skills, and strong cross-functional communication. This permanent CDI position can be based in Paris or performed remotely from France and uses Python, GCP, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Redis, Pub/Sub, Docker, React, and Datadog.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
4/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
4/5Salary analysis
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Core skills
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Sample interview questions
I would use an idempotency key supplied by the client and persist it with a request fingerprint and resulting transaction state. Repeated requests with the same key and matching payload would return the original result, while mismatched payloads would be rejected. I would also make downstream side effects resilient through transactional outbox patterns and idempotent consumers.
I would first establish scope through dashboards, traces, and recent deployment history, then isolate whether latency is concentrated in the API, database, external providers, queues, or Kubernetes infrastructure. I would mitigate customer impact through rollback, rate controls, capacity changes, or graceful degradation as appropriate. After resolution, I would document root cause, add targeted observability, and prioritize preventative engineering work.
I would clearly define state transitions and invariants, enforce them through database constraints and transactional updates where possible, and avoid relying on distributed transactions. For asynchronous steps, I would use durable events, idempotent processing, reconciliation jobs, and auditable records. I would also design compensating actions for failures that cannot be atomically reversed.
I incorporate security and reliability requirements into design and delivery rather than treating them as final checks. This includes threat modeling for sensitive flows, least-privilege access, code review, automated tests, monitoring, safe deployment practices, and clear incident procedures. I communicate trade-offs early so product and engineering stakeholders can make informed decisions about scope and risk.
I would explain the business and technical problem, gather evidence such as operational metrics and delivery constraints, and propose options with explicit trade-offs. I would involve affected teams early, address their concerns, and align on an incremental migration plan with measurable success criteria. My goal would be to build shared ownership rather than simply advocate for a preferred technology.
🧡 About Alma
At Alma, we believe sustainable commerce depends on fair, well-balanced trade. Because finance plays a pivotal role in business, our mission is to put it back in its rightful place – serving merchants and consumers.
Our installment and deferred payment solutions help merchants boost sales by 20% or more, increase customer loyalty, and deliver a seamless shopping experience – without encouraging bad debt.
As the buy now pay later leader in France and active in 10 European countries, we’ve empowered over +25,000 merchants and 10 million consumers.
With 380+ Almakers and €100M+ ARR, Alma is scaling rapidly across Europe as a member of the Next40, and we’re just getting started!
👐 About the team
We are hiring for different squads. We will direct you to a specific team depending on your interests and skills.
This position is a permanent contract (CDI) based in Paris or remote from France.
💼 About the job
Build the payment infrastructure of tomorrow
- Design and develop the APIs and backend components that power payments for thousands of merchants and millions of consumers across Europe.
Raise the bar on quality, security & performance
- Write maintainable, production-grade code that meets the highest standards of a regulated company processing billions of euros.
Shape our technical architecture
- Collaborate closely with Product and other tech leaders to evolve our architecture in line with growing business needs.
Own reliability end-to-end
- Lead incident response and performance troubleshooting, driving long-term improvements to ensure our platform stays resilient at scale.
🧰 You will work with
Python, Docker, React, GCP, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Redis, Pub/Sub, Datadog
🧩 About you
To succeed in this job
- 8+ years of experience in backend engineering on large-scale systems (excluding internships and apprenticeships)
- Strong proficiency in Python and relational databases — we’re open to other backend languages, but Python is our core stack
- Fluency in French with a solid level of English
- Methodical, with strong communication and problem-solving skills; at ease working in a cross-functional environment
And it will be nice if you also
- Have experience building payment or financial solutions
- Have a track record of influencing product and technical decisions at scale
- Hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field
Don’t meet every single requirement? At Alma, we believe great hires come from diverse paths. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply. We value potential, curiosity and the ability to grow as much as experience.
🧘 What’s in it for you
If you join, you will be able to grow and impact on:
- Real-world scale — your code will directly power payments for millions of consumers and tens of thousands of merchants across Europe.
- Technical ownership — you’ll have genuine influence over architecture decisions, not just implementation.
- A regulated, fast-moving environment — you’ll tackle the unique challenges of building robust, secure fintech infrastructure in a company that’s still moving fast.
🤑 Compensation & benefits
- Competitive salary based on 12 months
- Profit-sharing and employee savings plan
- Health insurance: 100% covered by Alma including family package
- Disability insurance: 100% covered by Alma
- Sport: partnerships with Gymlib and Classpass, or €30/month reimbursement for your sports activities
- Maternity/paternity leave: salary maintained at 100% during leave with no seniority requirement. Return to work at 4/5 schedule paid at 100% for 8 weeks.
- Sustainable Mobility Package (FMD): €544.80/year (excluding full-remote contracts)
- Meal vouchers: €10/day, 50% covered by Alma
- Mental health: free access to MindDay platform
- Paid time off: 25 days/year (+ additional paid leave granted for employees on executive contracts)
- Access to our Learning & Development Platform
- 2 weeks of full remote possible per year in summer
🎯 Interview Process
- Video call with a Talent Acquisition team member to understand your path, motivation & present you the role.
- Video call with your future manager to deep dive the role, the team, your profile and answer all your questions.
- Take-home coding test, followed by a remote feedback session.
- Live system design interview to assess your practical and architectural knowledge.
- A coffee chat with the squad you’ll join to further assess your skills and team fit.
More information on the hiring process can be found in our Interview Guide.
🌍 Diversity & Inclusion
At Alma, we believe that diversity fuels innovation and makes our community stronger. We are committed to building a workplace where every person feels seen, respected, and empowered to do their best work whatever their gender, background, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability or lived experience. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applicants from all walks of life, and all employment decisions are made based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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