Java/Kotlin Software Engineer

Why This Job Is Exciting

At Innovatrics, we equip you with the tools, context, and trust to thrive. Our opportunity-driven roadmap highlights how you can grow, contribute, and make a meaningful impact throughout your journey with us.

In your first months, you’ll...

• Get hands-on with our services, most of which are written in Kotlin and use the gRPC framework with Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) for data serialization or REST.
• Learn the ins and outs of our architecture and development workflows.
• Deliver small bug fixes and enhancements to help you become familiar with the system.

As you settle into the role, you’ll...

• Contribute actively to the development and optimization of our Biometric Services team’s components.
• Participate in the design of new features and API improvements.
• Collaborate with engineers across teams to ensure high performance, scalability, and clean architecture.

Within your first year, you’ll...

• Influence architecture and technical strategy across services.
• Provide expert input on Java/Kotlin development and API design.
• Mentor junior engineers and help shape coding standards and best practices.

What You’ll Help Build

At Innovatrics, we build biometric technologies for elections, border control, digital ID, and secure onboarding in 80+ countries. Our algorithms have reached over a billion people. 

Your work here won’t get lost in a backlog; it’ll shape real-world systems that matter. 

We’re a small team, so your ideas ship fast. From day one, you’ll build production features and shape global-scale projects within weeks.

Working Hours & Location

Required locations:

• Bratislava office
• Hybrid - 2 days in-office / 3 days remote

Requirements

About you

You are an experienced Java or Kotlin software engineer (prior Kotlin experience is a plus, but not required — we’ll help you get up to speed!). You’re someone who thrives in a culture of ownership, autonomy, and continuous improvement.

You are:

• Proficient in backend software engineering, ideally with experience in distributed systems, APIs, or gRPC.
• Comfortable working independently and collaboratively on challenging problems.
• A team player who values humor, openness, and thoughtful communication.

Qualifications

• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand complex systems and explain technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proven experience in backend development using Java and/or Kotlin, ideally with knowledge of gRPC, Protobuf, and distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of multi-threading and parallel programming, with hands-on experience designing and debugging concurrent systems.
• Collaborative mindset with experience working in cross-functional teams, code reviews, and agile development environments.
• Proactive and independent, with a high sense of ownership and a willingness to mentor others and continuously improve coding standards and team practices.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with basic DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, Docker, or Kubernetes
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and their services
• Understanding of observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry)
• Exposure to security best practices for APIs and distributed systems

Techstack

You'll be working with a modern backend stack designed for performance, observability, and developer productivity:

Languages & Frameworks: Java, Kotlin, Spring Boot, Ktor

Communication & APIs: gRPC with Protocol Buffers, REST APIs, GraphQL

Data & Storage: Distributed memory storage with Apache Ignite

Build Tools: Maven, Gradle

Observability: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, Tempo, Loki

Testing: JUnit

DevOps & Tooling: GitLab CI/CD, Docker
Team Productivity: Jira, Confluence

Level

📊 This role is at Medior / potentially Senior level. 

Compensation

At Innovatrics, we offer highly competitive salaries because we value top talent who share our values and goals. Compensation is determined based on your level, skills, experience, qualifications, and location.

Interview Process

Here is the typical interview process for this role:

👋 Introduction Stage (~30 min.)

• Recruiter Screen

🧑‍💻 Team Interview Stage   (~120 min.)

We have a one single interview round that takes approximately 2 - 2,5  hours and is divided into two stages:

• Stage 1: Technical Interview (60 min)
  An interactive session with our technical team, focusing on your problem-solving approach and technical knowledge relevant to the role.
• Stage 2: Practical Collaboration (60~90 min)
  A hands-on session where you will work directly with our Software Engineers and Hiring Manager on a real-world problem. This is a practical, collaborative exercise designed to see how you approach challenges, communicate your reasoning, and co-create solutions in real time.

🎯 Final Stage (~30 min.)

• CARES Interview: Final conversation with our CARES committee to ensure alignment with our core values—Collaboration, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Shared Mission.
• Reference checks and background verification

We encourage candidates to request additional conversations with anyone they would like to meet.

Benefits

Learn More About Us

Learn more about our culture, values, and what it’s like to work at Innovatrics: 

https://careers.innovatrics.com/