Backend Engineer

What engineers tend to like is that they’re building products used at scale in a real-time environment where performance, reliability, and engineering quality genuinely matter.

Why the role exists

This role sits within kwiff’s Sportsbook Team, which is currently a team of four engineers. One engineer is leaving to go abroad, so they’re looking to bring in a replacement who can help continue building and scaling one of the most important parts of the platform.

You’ll be the fifth engineer in the team, working and reporting into Reece (Head of Backend Engineering) and the wider sportsbook group.

What you’ll be working on

The sportsbook platform handles high volumes of traffic and data, particularly around live sporting events where demand can spike very quickly.

You’ll be helping to build and improve services that need to be:

• Highly scalable
• Reliable
• Low latency
• Resilient under pressure

The stack includes:

• Node.js (essential)
• TypeScript
• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• AWS

Interestingly, they’re less concerned about deep AWS expertise because much of the infrastructure is abstracted away. What they really care about is somebody who understands how to build robust systems and can reason about scalability and reliability.

• 3-6 years of commercial software engineering experience
• 3+ years using Node.js and TypeScript
• Experience working on high-throughput systems
• Strong database experience (PostgreSQL preferred)
• An interest in system reliability and performance

A huge plus is experience working on products that experience traffic spikes, such as:

• E-commerce platforms during peak sales ][
• Streaming platforms
• Financial services applications
• High-volume SaaS products
• Betting or gaming platforms

Sports knowledge matters

One thing Reece was very clear on is that sports knowledge is actually more important than betting experience.

They don’t need someone who has spent years in iGaming.

They do want somebody who:

• Enjoys sport
• Understands things like odds, football scoring, horse racing, tennis scoring, etc.
• Is naturally curious and asks questions
• Wants to understand how the sportsbook works

The rationale is simple: it’s much easier to teach the betting domain to someone who already loves sport than it is to teach both the technology and the product at the same time.

Package & Process

• Up to £80,000
• Bonus
• Private healthcare
• Pension
• Wellbeing allowance
• Life insurance

Working pattern

• 3 days per week onsite in West London

kwiff is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the sports betting space. They’ve built their own proprietary platform and are known for taking a technology-first approach to disrupting the market. The business has seen significant growth since they were founded in 2015 and is now expanding the engineering team with a Backend Engineer due to growth.