KAYAK is looking to solve the problem of enhancing its travel search engine by designing and building highly scalable backend services in Java that support complex travel industry integrations, ensuring accuracy, fault tolerance, and consistency across distributed systems for mission-critical travel operations.
Requirements
- Deep understanding of distributed transactions, retries/backoff, accurate booking flows, and the saga patterns.
- 6+ years of experience with databases (SQL, NoSQL, caching layers) and designing data models for high-volume transactional workloads.
- 6+ years experience with web application development, proven understanding of foundational web technologies.
- Direct integration experience with at least one major GDS (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport): PNR creation, ticketing, queues, pricing, ATPCO, or shopping APIs.
- Practical knowledge of NDC offer/order flows, ancillary handling, and hybrid architectures bridging PNR and Order models.
- Integrating multi-source travel content (LCCs, rail, hotel wholesalers) and normalizing heterogeneous data.
- Containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes or similar) and hybrid cloud environments.
Responsibilities
- Design and build highly scalable backend services in Java supporting multi-GDS integrations (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport), NDC APIs, LCC APIs, hotel/rail suppliers, and other travel content sources.
- Architect and deliver end-to-end booking, ticketing, and order flows, ensuring accuracy, fault tolerance, and consistency across distributed systems.
- Own backend features across their full lifecycle - design, implementation, testing, deployment, observability, and production troubleshooting.
- Raise system reliability and operational readiness and, mentor teammates through design reviews and architecture guidance.
- Become a product expert in your area. Work with product and commercial stakeholders to understand problems and propose solutions based on current and future system needs.
Other
- Clear, collaborative communicator who simplifies complex systems into clean architectures.
- Thrives in fast-paced environments.
- Builds detail‑oriented, resilient systems.
- Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year
- Flexible hours and ability to work from home 1 or 2 days per week
