{"id":158037,"url":"https://alion.io/job/smartnews-software-engineer-ads-backend","title":"Software Engineer, Ads Backend","company":{"id":14000,"name":"SmartNews","domain":"smartnews.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/smartnews","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":88,"open_postings":4,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.5,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":47,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Shibuya, Japan"],"countries":["JP"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":false},{"name":"C#","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Go","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Kotlin","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Redis","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":true},{"name":"Docker","optional":true},{"name":"Flink","optional":true},{"name":"GitHub","optional":true},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":true},{"name":"MySQL","optional":true},{"name":"Service Mesh","optional":true},{"name":"Spark","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-28","last_verified_at":"2026-10-18T01:12:56Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":51,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":51},"description":"About SmartNews\nSmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. Thanks to our unique machine-learning technology and relationships with more than 3,000 global publisher partners, we provide news that matters to millions of users.\nFounded in 2012 in Tokyo, SmartNews also has offices in Osaka (Kansai Office), Palo Alto, New York and Singapore.\nIf you share our vision and are passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply!\nTeam and Role Mission\nThe Ads Product Backend Team powers the company's core revenue engine by building high-performance, sustainable, and profitable advertising systems. Operating within a high-traffic ad delivery platform that reaches millions of users, our engineering focuses on four key pillars: Targeting, Ranking, Auction, and Measurement. In an ecosystem where low latency is critical, you will design and scale features within high-throughput applications, driving proactive system architecture improvements to deliver highly relevant, impactful ad experiences.\nResponsibilities\nParticipate in the architectural design and iteration of robust, scalable online and offline backend systems for our state-of-the-art ad delivery platform.\nDrive engineering efforts across core domains, including Ranking Backend (ad prediction and delivery), Premium Ads (guaranteed visibility and premium positioning), Targeting & Custom Audience (precision user-ad matching), and Measurement (cross-platform performance analytics across web and app scenarios).\nCollaborate closely with cross-functional engineering teams, including Ads Ranking (Machine Learning), Ads Foundation, Data Platform, and AI Infrastructure, to build resilient, high-quality ad products.\nRequirements\nMinimum requirements\nBS degree or above in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Science (physics or mathematics) or other relevant majors\n3+ years experience in developing backend systems for high traffic web services\nAdvanced skill and experience in at least one of the following programming languages: Java, Kotlin, Golang (open to C++, C#, Python)\nFluent in using Kafka, Redis, SQL and some NoSQL DBs\nBusiness level English and conversational level Japanese\nNice to have experiences/skills\nExperience in advertisement / Ad Tech industry\nHigh programming skills in Java. 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