Software Engineer - Backend

Phorest
Full-time•Back-end development•Ireland · Remote within Ireland
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At a glance

Employment type
Full-time
Workplace
Remote

Technologies & skills

Primary technologies

Cloud & infrastructure

Other technical skills

What you'll be doing

Join Phorest as a Senior Backend Software Engineer to design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services for a large-scale SaaS platform serving salons and medspas. Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and designers, contribute to technical decisions, and support continuous improvement in a remote role based in Ireland.

  • Design, develop and maintain scalable, reliable backend services and systems
  • Work closely with engineers, product managers and designers to turn business requirements into well-designed, shippable features
  • Contribute to technical design discussions, making informed decisions about architecture, performance and scalability
  • Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code, following engineering best practices
  • Build and improve RESTful APIs and integrations that support the platform
  • Take ownership of features from initial design through to deployment and ongoing improvement
  • Participate in code reviews, share knowledge and support the development of other engineers
  • Identify opportunities to improve systems, development processes and overall engineering standards

Key requirements

Must-have

  • 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
  • Strong proficiency in Java and object-oriented software design
  • Experience designing, building and maintaining backend services in a production environment
  • Comfortable working with RESTful APIs
  • Good understanding of JavaScript and modern web technologies
  • Understanding of scalable, distributed systems and technical trade-offs
  • Care about code quality, testing, maintainability
  • Confident contributing to technical discussions

Nice-to-have

  • Experience with GraphQL

Experience: 5+ years of professional software engineering experience

Role signals

Technical focus
Back-end development
Leadership
Mentoring
Architecture / system design
Indicated in the listing
Hands-on vs management
Hands-on

Full job description

Who we are

Phorest started in 2002 on a busy salon reception desk as a simple text-reminder tool.

Today, we're a SaaS company and a trusted partner to over 155,000 hair, beauty and medspa professionals worldwide. Our all-in-one software and AI-driven tools help them manage bookings, take payments, market their services, grow their client base and get the best from their teams.

Everything we build helps the salon and medspa industry thrive.

We're also a Certified B Corp, and 25% of the company is owned by Phoresters. When the company grows, everyone has a stake in that.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Senior Backend Software Engineer to join our Engineering team at Phorest.

You'll work alongside talented engineers, product managers and designers to build and improve the technology that powers thousands of salons, spas and MedSpas around the world.

This is an opportunity to work on a large-scale, distributed platform, solving interesting technical challenges and building software that makes a real difference to the businesses that use Phorest every day.

Our technology stack includes Java, event-driven architecture and modern cloud technologies such as Docker and Serverless. We value clean code, pragmatic decision-making and continuous improvement, with feature flags and continuous delivery helping us get great work into production quickly.

You'll join a collaborative, supportive team where you'll have the opportunity to influence technical decisions, share your knowledge and continue developing your skills.

What You'll Do

  • Design, develop and maintain scalable, reliable backend services and systems.
  • Work closely with engineers, product managers and designers to turn business requirements into well-designed, shippable features.
  • Contribute to technical design discussions, making informed decisions about architecture, performance and scalability.
  • Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code, following engineering best practices.
  • Build and improve RESTful APIs and integrations that support our platform.
  • Take ownership of features from initial design through to deployment and ongoing improvement.
  • Participate in code reviews, share knowledge and support the development of other engineers.
  • Identify opportunities to improve our systems, development processes and overall engineering standards.
  • Stay curious about emerging technologies and bring a practical approach to introducing new tools and solutions where they add value.

Who You Are

  • You have 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong proficiency in Java and object-oriented software design.
  • You have experience designing, building and maintaining backend services in a production environment.
  • You're comfortable working with RESTful APIs, with GraphQL experience being a bonus.
  • You have a good understanding of JavaScript and modern web technologies.
  • You understand the principles of scalable, distributed systems and can reason about technical trade-offs.
  • You care about code quality, testing, maintainability and building software that lasts.
  • You're confident contributing to technical discussions and sharing your ideas and opinions.
  • You're a collaborative team player who enjoys working across disciplines and supporting others.
  • You're proactive, take ownership of your work and look for ways to improve how things are done.
  • You have a growth mindset, enjoy learning and know when to adopt new technologies and when to keep things simple.

Benefits

🧘 Your wellbeing is important to us - we provide private healthcare, 2 Wellness Days, an employee assistance program and a free online GP service.

💰 As part of our Financial Wellbeing, we provide competitive Compensation, an Employee Share Purchase Scheme, Pension, Life Assurance, and Income Protection.

🚵🏿 We help you travel by providing a bike to work scheme as well as tax saver transport tickets.

🦸‍♀️ We support the women who work in Phorest by offering 2 weeks leave for Fertility Treatment, Pregnancy Loss and Menopause.

🍼 We care for your family and provide Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Benefits.

🌳 We grow our own timber! We provide a great learning environment and extensive development opportunities. We run development programs and provide access to many online resources including LinkedIn learning.

🏠 Moving house? Phorest employees get 3 moving days.

Want to learn more about Phorest? Check out nothingventured.rocks for our blog and Insights on building an evergreen company from the team here at Phorest.

Phorest is an equal opportunity employer. For this position, flexi-time and working from home is possible. We are also open to remote work. Get in touch to ask for more information or to chat about your future with Phorest!

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalised folks tend to only apply when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit.

Interview prep pack

Grounded in this listing. Use it to prepare examples before you apply.

Your interview focus

Based on this listing, the Software Engineer - Backend role at Phorest focuses on designing, building, and maintaining scalable backend services using Java and modern cloud technologies, with an emphasis on RESTful APIs, code quality, and collaborative technical decision-making.

  • Java backend expertise·High
  • API design and integration·High
  • Distributed systems understanding·Medium
  • Collaboration and mentoring·Medium

Only have 30 minutes?

Follow a focused preparation plan based on this job.

Start 30-minute prep

Your 30-minute plan

  1. Review Java and Object-Oriented Design Patterns

    0–7 min

    Refresh your knowledge of Java, focusing on backend patterns and object-oriented principles relevant to scalable systems.

  2. Prepare Examples of RESTful API and Distributed System Projects

    7–14 min

    Select 1-2 strong examples from your experience that demonstrate your skills in API design and distributed architectures.

  3. Reflect on Code Quality and Collaboration Practices

    14–20 min

    Think through your approach to code reviews, testing, and mentoring, and prepare to discuss specific contributions.

  4. Research Phorest's Product and Engineering Culture

    20–25 min

    Read the company blog and any available engineering resources to tailor your questions and show genuine interest.

  5. List Questions and Key Points to Cover

    25–30 min

    Write down your top questions for the team and key achievements you want to highlight during the interview.

Likely questions

, 6 items

Priority reflects how strongly this topic is emphasised in the job listing, not whether it will be asked.

Talking points

, 5 items
  • Designing and Maintaining Scalable Backend Services

    Be ready to discuss how you've architected or improved backend systems to handle growth, reliability, and performance, as this is central to the role.

  • Proficiency in Java and Object-Oriented Design

    Demonstrate your depth of experience with Java, including how you apply object-oriented principles to solve real-world problems.

  • Building and Integrating RESTful APIs

    Prepare examples of how you've designed, implemented, and maintained REST APIs, as this is a core responsibility.

  • Collaboration and Technical Decision-Making

    Showcase your ability to work with cross-functional teams and contribute to architectural and design discussions.

  • Code Quality, Testing, and Maintainability

    Be ready to explain your approach to writing clean, well-tested code and maintaining high engineering standards.

What to research

, 4 items
  • Phorest's Technology Stack

    Review Java, REST APIs, GraphQL, Docker, and event-driven architectures as these are core to the platform.

  • Engineering Best Practices

    Be ready to discuss code quality, testing, CI/CD, and maintainability strategies you have used.

  • Collaborative Product Development

    Prepare examples of working with product managers and designers to deliver features from concept to deployment.

  • Distributed Systems Concepts

    Brush up on principles of scalable, distributed systems and event-driven design, as these are emphasized in the role.

Questions to ask

, 6 items
  1. How does the engineering team at Phorest approach technical decision-making and architectural changes?

    Why ask this? To understand the level of influence and collaboration expected in the role.

  2. What are the biggest technical challenges currently facing the backend team?

    Why ask this? To identify where your skills can have the most impact and what to expect in the role.

  3. How does Phorest support continuous learning and professional development for engineers?

    Why ask this? To gauge opportunities for growth and alignment with your learning goals.

  4. Can you describe the typical workflow for taking a feature from idea to production?

    Why ask this? To clarify expectations around ownership, collaboration, and delivery processes.

  5. How does the team ensure code quality and maintainability as the platform scales?

    Why ask this? To learn about engineering standards and practices in place.

  6. What is the team's experience with adopting new technologies or architectural patterns?

    Why ask this? To understand openness to innovation and how change is managed.

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Apply NowApply before: 20 Nov 2026