---
title: 'Senior Backend Engineer - Run & Grow at SumUp'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-backend-engineer-run-grow-sumup-cologne-h9y65hmxpfbq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-13'
---

# Senior Backend Engineer - Run & Grow at SumUp

- **Company:** SumUp
- **Location:** Cologne, Germany
- **Posted:** 2026-09-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13
- **Apply:** https://sumup.com/careers/positions/8842258002?gh_jid=8842258002

## Job description

About the Run & Grow:

Run & Grow is where SumUp builds the platforms and capabilities that help merchants discover, join, use, and continue growing with our products. The tribe brings together engineering, product, design, and revenue operations teams around two connected goals: helping SumUp serve and retain merchants, and accelerating acquisition, activation, and engagement.

Our work sits at the heart of SumUp’s growth engine. We turn complex challenges across merchant acquisition, identity, marketing technology, commercial systems, operations, risk, and compliance into reliable products and services that other teams can build on. The systems we create help SumUp move faster, make better decisions, and deliver a simpler experience to millions of small businesses.

Joining Run & Grow means working on high-impact engineering problems with a broad view of the business. You’ll collaborate across disciplines and teams, shape the foundations behind important merchant journeys, and help create a more connected, scalable way for SumUp to run and grow.

What you’ll do:

- Design, build, and operate production-grade backend services, APIs, and integrations, primarily using Go.
- Build event-driven workflows and distributed systems using technologies such as Kafka and asynchronous processing.
- Define clear service boundaries, data models, schemas, and API contracts that other teams can use confidently.
- Build capabilities supporting merchant acquisition, identity, marketing technology, operations, risk, and compliance.
- Own technical work end to end, from discovery and system design through implementation, testing, deployment, and production follow-up.
- Modernise existing services and improve reliability through observability, security, failure handling, and incident response.
- Collaborate with Product, Data, Operations, Compliance, Risk, Sales, Marketing, and other engineering teams to turn complex requirements into practical solutions.
- Review code and designs, make pragmatic technical trade-offs, share knowledge, and mentor engineers around you

You’ll be great for this role if you:

- Bring a strong backend engineering background in Go, or are a typed-language generalist ready to ramp up quickly
- Have designed APIs and distributed systems with clear contracts, versioning, and integration patterns
- Are fluent in relational and analytical databases (PostgreSQL, Snowflake) and comfortable making the right choice for the right use case
- Have built Kafka-based, event-driven systems and understand event sourcing and CDC patterns
- Have experience in auditable, high-trust systems where every decision must be traceable fintech, payments, or similar domains
- Have experience with testing, observability, and incident response practices and treat them as first-class concerns, not afterthoughts
- Take ownership of ambiguous problems and turn them into clear, scalable, and maintainable solutions.
- Communicate clearly, collaborate effectively, and explain technical concepts and trade-offs to different audiences.
- Value pragmatic engineering, continuous improvement, mentoring, and reliable production operations.

Why you should join SumUp:

🌍 Opportunity to work with SumUppers globally on large-scale fintech products used by millions of businesses worldwide, from our Berlin office. This involves an office-first setup

🧑‍🔬 We take learning and experimentation seriously with Hack Days every second Friday, and entire [global Hack Weeks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBKiVCLompk).

🌈 Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: Be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced

📚 A dedicated annual L&D budget of €2,000 for attending conferences and/or advancing your career through further education

🚀 Enrolment onto our VSOP program: You will own a stake in SumUp’s future success

💶 A corporate pension scheme where we match up to 20% of your contributions

🔄 30 Days Sabbatical: Enjoy the unique opportunity to take a well-deserved break with our 30 days sabbatical benefit after completing 3 years of employment with SumUp

🔗 Referral Bonus: Earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team

🚵🏾‍♂️ Numerous other benefits such as Urban Sports Club subsidy, Kita placement assistance, relocation assistance, subsidised office lunches

SumUp is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. SumUp does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by Company policy. SumUp also strives for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibits harassment of any kind.

About us:

Be empowered to do more that matters.

At SumUp, we're on a mission to empower small businesses across the globe by providing simple and affordable tools that allow them to thrive. Today, over 4 million businesses in 36 markets rely on SumUp as their financial partner to manage payments, finance and customer relationships.

Our commitment to small businesses is reflected in our diverse team of over 3,000 SumUppers from over 90 nationalities, united by global collaboration and an innovative mindset. [Our core values](https://www.sumup.com/careers/culture/) lay the foundation for who we are and what we stand for, shaping our work culture and driving our success. We foster inclusivity and a continuous learning culture, providing a safe space for personal and professional growth. Our differences make us unique and strong as we strive to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels supported, no matter how they identify.

SumUp is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, actively seeking and embracing diversity in our workforce. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, colour, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other basis protected by applicable laws or prohibited by company policy. Our commitment extends beyond recruitment to creating a safe and respectful workplace where harassment of any form is strictly prohibited.

Explore career opportunities with us and join a team driven by collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision of creating a world where everyone can build a thriving business. Discover more about our vibrant and inclusive work culture and how we work on our [careers website](https://www.sumup.com/careers/), and follow our journey on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sumup/) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/insidesumup/).

Job Application Tip

We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don’t tick every box, it’s ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.

## About SumUp

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: SumUp is a global fintech company that provides simple, affordable payment and financial management tools to help small businesses start, run, and grow.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Funding stage not publicly available)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2012
- **Founders**: Not specified in provided sources

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial Services / Fintech (Payments)
- **Target customers**: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), B2B
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Empower small businesses all over the world." — with the vision of "a world where everyone can build a thriving business."

## Products & Services
- **Payment Processing (Card Readers & POS)**: Hardware and software solutions for in-person and online payments, enabling merchants to accept card and contactless payments.
- **SumUp Business Account**: A digital business account for managing finances and transactions.
- **Invoicing & Customer Relationship Tools**: Tools to create invoices, manage customers, and streamline operations.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Over 4 million merchants served across 37 markets; 3,000+ employees from more than 90 nationalities
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not listed in provided sources
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount growth to 3,000+; recognition as a Top Global Employer for inclusion (Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2022/2023) and Fintech Diversity Initiative of the Year (2025); expansion across 4 continents with 20+ offices.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Global reach**: Operating in 37 markets with localized products and support.
- **Merchant focus**: Deep commitment to small business owners, with products designed specifically for their needs.
- **Inclusive culture**: Strong diversity and inclusion programs, gender parity in workforce, and employee-led communities (e.g., Pride Club).
- **Autonomous teams**: Small, empowered teams with servant leadership, fostering innovation and speed.

## Strategic Focus
- Expanding product and service portfolio to become a complete financial partner for small businesses.
- Continuing to invest in a learning culture (SumUp University) and employee development.
- Maintaining an office-first culture while enabling occasional remote work to balance collaboration and flexibility.
- Growing market presence by entering new geographies and deepening existing ones.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Office-first company that values human connection, autonomy, and continuous learning. Core values include Team First, We Care, and Founder’s Mentality.
- **Remote/Hybrid policy**: Office-first with the ability to work remotely occasionally, as agreed with teams.
- **Benefits**: Relocation support for overseas hires, dedicated budget for conferences and external training, and location-specific perks.
- **Engineering culture**: Autonomous teams, servant leadership, and a focus on pragmatic, self-driven problem-solving.
- **Inclusion**: Recognized as a Top Global Employer for inclusion; active LGBTQ+ community and gender parity initiatives.
- **Hiring process**: Transparent, with recruiter screening, hiring manager interview, technical assessment, team interview, bar raiser, and final offer.

## Sources
1. [sumup.com](https://www.sumup.com/careers/)
2. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sumup)
3. [sumup.com](https://www.sumup.com/careers/culture/)
4. [sumup.com](https://www.sumup.com/careers/positions/)
5. [sumup.com](https://www.sumup.com/careers/how-we-hire/)

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