Senior Lead Backend Engineer - Fintech Solutions

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Lead Backend Engineer to join our dynamic team at Agoda. This Senior Lead Backend Engineer remote position will allow you to drive architectural decisions and domain-driven design in our Fintech domain while working from anywhere. You will play a crucial role in shaping our B2B and financial systems, guiding multiple teams on technical direction, domain modeling, and system design.

What You'll Do

• Architect and evolve highly scalable, mission-critical backend systems in the Fintech domain (e.g., B2B payments, settlements, reconciliation, financial flows).
• Shape domain boundaries and system interactions using domain-driven design, collaborating with product and finance stakeholders to align technical solutions with business needs.
• Own key technical initiatives end-to-end: from clarifying requirements and writing RFCs/design docs to guiding implementation and rollout across multiple teams.
• Provide architectural guidance and technical leadership to several squads (backend, data, and related functions), ensuring consistent patterns, quality, and long-term maintainability.
• Dive into code where needed to validate designs, de-risk complex changes, and set engineering standards by example.
• Identify and drive optimizations across services (reliability, performance, cost, operability), focusing on pragmatic trade-offs rather than perfectionism.
• Partner with non-technical stakeholders (Finance, Product, senior leaders) to explain complex systems, trade-offs, and roadmap choices in clear, accessible terms.
• Contribute to and improve our engineering practices around observability, incident prevention/response, and continuous improvement in the Fintech space.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a strong background in backend systems and distributed architecture.
• Proven hands-on ownership of production services end to end: design, development, deployment, monitoring, and iterative evolution.
• Strong focus on architecture and domain modeling; you prefer solving complex domain and system design problems over low-level framework or micro-optimization work.
• Solid programming skills in at least one language such as Kotlin, Java or Scala with the ability to write and review production-quality code.
• Ability to perform deep research, write clear RFCs/design documents, and make informed architectural decisions on complex projects.
• High ownership and pragmatism: able to work independently, drive initiatives without waiting for detailed instructions, and make realistic trade-offs under constraints.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical and domain concepts to stakeholders at all levels, including non-technical partners in Finance and Product.
• Experience or strong motivation to work in fintech or financial systems (e.g., payments, billing, reconciliation, B2B financial flows), and willingness to go deep into the finance domain.

Nice to Have

• Experience working in fintech-heavy environments (online banks, payment providers, trading platforms, or fintech teams within large product companies).
• Master’s or Ph.D. in a technical field.
• Experience with Kubernetes or similar platforms for running and scaling services in production.
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD practices, observability, and operational excellence in high-availability systems.
• Experience in other languages (e.g., Go, Rust, C/C++) or with event-driven and data technologies (e.g., Kafka) used in distributed financial systems.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and relocation support to Bangkok, Thailand.
• Flexible remote work options.
• Opportunity to work with a diverse team from over 90 countries.
• Access to continuous learning and development opportunities.
• Inclusive company culture that values diversity and innovation.