Overview
Company
Profile match
Impact
Conditions
Benefits
Hiring process
Similar jobs
Upwork is a global digital work platform that connects businesses with independent talent across diverse fields such as software development, design, marketing, and finance. Created through the 2013 merger of Elance and oDesk, the public American company provides tools for contracting, collaboration, time tracking, and cross-border payments. Headquartered in San Francisco, it serves clients ranging from startups and small businesses to global enterprises seeking flexible remote workforce solutions.

Summary

We are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to build and maintain production-grade backend systems and develop backend capabilities supporting AI-enabled product experiences. This role is focused on Java and Spring Boot development, scalable microservices, RESTful APIs, distributed systems, reliability, and performance.

The successful candidate will work with cross-functional teams to design and deliver robust backend solutions while contributing to LLM-based workflows and other AI-enabled product capabilities.

Enterprise experience strongly preferred.

Key Responsibilities

- Build and maintain production-grade backend systems.

- Design, develop, and maintain scalable Java and Spring Boot microservices.

- Design and maintain RESTful APIs following API lifecycle best practices.

- Develop backend features supporting AI-enabled product experiences.

- Integrate LLM-based workflows and backend services with AI capabilities.

- Design distributed systems and fault-tolerant services.

- Optimize system performance, scalability, and reliability.

- Work with relational databases such as PostgreSQL or MySQL.

- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver backend solutions.

Must-Have Skills

- 5+ years of backend engineering experience with production-grade systems.

- Expert proficiency in Java.

- Expert proficiency in Spring Boot.

- Strong hands-on experience with Gradle.

- Strong experience designing and developing microservices.

- Strong RESTful API design skills and understanding of API lifecycle best practices.

- Experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL or MySQL.

- Experience designing distributed systems.

- Experience building fault-tolerant services.

- Experience with backend performance tuning.

- Experience working with AI-driven requirements.

- Experience integrating LLM-based workflows.

- Understanding of API patterns for AI services.

- Experience building backend features for AI-enabled products.

- Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Nice-to-Have Skills

- Experience with Kafka, RabbitMQ, or event-driven architectures.

- Familiarity with GraphQL.

- Familiarity with API Gateways or hybrid API ecosystems.

- Experience integrating LLM or AI APIs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar services.

- Prior remote contracting experience.

- Cross-functional leadership experience.

Required Tools & Platforms

- Java

- Spring Boot

- Gradle

- RESTful APIs

- PostgreSQL or MySQL

Location, Time & Engagement

- Remote contract opportunity.

- Location: LATAM, excluding Mexico.

- Full-time engagement at approximately 40 hours per week.

- Must be able to work hours aligned with U.S. EST/CST business hours.

- Current engagement end date: February 28, 2027.

Recommended for you based on this role

Similar stack
Same company
In your city
Remote • Contractor • 3+ years exp • Bogotá
Design
Figma
Sketch
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • United States
Marketing
Salesforce
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • Bogotá
Python
SQL
DevOps
AWS
Analytics
Power BI
Tableau
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • Manila
Python
SQL
Databases
Azure SQL Database
DevOps
Azure
Analytics
Power BI
Apply
Remote • Contractor • Bogotá
JavaScript
Python
TypeScript
AI/ML
AI Agents
ChatGPT
Claude
Function Calling
Gemini
Model Context Protocol
DevOps
CI/CD
Management
Google Workspace
Slack
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • Bogotá
Apply
Remote • Contractor • Bogotá
Python
JavaScript
Databases
Databricks
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Snowflake
Frontend
React.js
DevOps
AWS
CI/CD
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • São Paulo
Go
Node JS
TypeScript
JavaScript
DevOps
GCP
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • Buenos Aires
Go
Node JS
TypeScript
JavaScript
DevOps
GCP
Apply
Remote • Contractor • 5+ years exp • Bogotá
Go
Node JS
TypeScript
JavaScript
DevOps
GCP
Apply
Career impact
Discover how this job can transform your career
Get a personal career forecast for this job - salary uplift, next-level role, skill boost and a 3-year financial impact, all calculated from your profile.
Personal salary uplift vs. your current pay
Your 3-year career trajectory
Skills you will level up in this role
3-year financial impact in dollars
Create free account
Free forever • Less than a minute • No credit card

Work setup

Location
Bogotá
Remote work
Remote (LATAM)
Employment
Contractor