Backend Software Development Engineer II

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

A Little About Us

Yahoo is a global media and tech company that connects people to their passions. We reach nearly 900 million people worldwide, bringing them closer to what they love—from finance and sports, to shopping, gaming and news—with the trusted products, content and tech that fuel their day. 

The Media Platform team supports all Yahoo verticals in developing and delivering the best products to our customers globally with the highest standards. The Media Platform team is focused on enabling the company to build world-class products by creating and supporting services leveraged by multiple verticals. Our team operates with tenets that emphasize building a modern competitive platform regarding service, cost, and capabilities, ensuring services can be self-served, and supporting multiple verticals. 

A Lot About You

We are looking for a skilled and motivated Software Development Engineer II (SDE II) to join our backend engineering team. This role is ideal for someone with a solid foundation in distributed backend systems who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges, building scalable APIs, and working with modern data infrastructure.

You’ll help design and implement high-performance services that power user experiences across a wide range of applications. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, comfortable with event-driven architectures, and eager to grow within a collaborative and fast-moving environment.

We don’t expect you to have experience with every tool listed; curiosity and a willingness to learn go a long way. We value engineers who take pride in clean design, ask good questions, and lift up the team ... not just the code.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain distributed backend services with a focus on scalability, performance, and reliability.

• Develop and optimize GraphQL APIs that serve real-time and batch data to internal and external consumers.

• Work with a variety of data storage technologies, including cloud storage (S3) and databases (NoSQL, RDMS).

• Create caching solutions with Redis and OpenSearch, including TTL, invalidation, and indexing strategies.

• Build and manage data pipelines and streaming applications using tools like Apache Kafka, Flink, AWS Lambda or similar technologies.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including product, frontend, data, and infrastructure to deliver high-impact features.

• Support observability, operational excellence, and incident response for production services.

• Support infrastructure provisioning using infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools like Terraform, emphasizing reliability and repeatability. 

• Contribute to technical design reviews and help evolve architecture decisions.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.

Required Skills & Experience

• 3–5 years of backend software development experience.

• Proficiency in one or more backend languages such as Java, Kotlin, Go, or Python.

• Experience using core data structures to build and scale RESTful and GraphQL APIs.

• Strong understanding of distributed systems concepts (e.g., consistency, availability, partitioning).

• Hands-on experience with NoSQL databases (e.g., DynamoDB, MongoDB) and relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL).

• Familiarity with messaging systems (SNS, SQS) or streaming platforms (e.g., Kafka, Pulsar).

• Exposure to cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) and container-based deployment workflows.

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Github Actions) and observability tools (e.g., Cloudwatch, Splunk, Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog) is a plus.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

At Yahoo, we know that diversity makes us stronger. We are committed to a collaborative, inclusive environment that encourages authenticity and fosters a sense of belonging. We strive for everyone to feel valued, connected, and empowered to reach their potential and contribute their best. Check out our diversity and inclusion (www.yahooinc.com/diversity/) page to learn more.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.

The compensation for this position ranges from $111,000.00 - $231,250.00/yr and will vary depending on factors such as your location, skills and experience.The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary annual bonus or commissions. Our comprehensive benefits include healthcare, a great 401k, backup childcare, education stipends and much (much) more.

Currently work for Yahoo? Please apply on our internal career site.