---
title: 'Senior JAVA Software Engineer, Ads at KAYAK'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-java-software-engineer-ads-kayak-kaunas-5j2hzmc249dh'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-26'
---

# Senior JAVA Software Engineer, Ads at KAYAK

- **Company:** KAYAK
- **Location:** Kaunas, Lithuania
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-26
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kayak/40c9e201-3639-49de-a493-264da04f4675

## Job description

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We’re also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business. As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

In this role you will:

- Lead the design and delivery of complex backend features, from initial scoping through deployment and ongoing production support
- Contribute to technical design reviews and architecture discussions, collaborating with engineers and architects across teams
- Write well-tested, readable, and maintainable code consistent with team quality standards; participate actively in code reviews and provide constructive feedback
- Mentor and support the growth of less-experienced engineers through technical guidance, knowledge sharing, and pairing
- Work closely with product managers and commercial partners to clarify requirements, surface trade-offs, and deliver reliable outcomes
- Participate in on-call rotations: monitor system health, investigate production issues, and write clear bug tickets and documentation
- Proactively identify opportunities to improve system performance, reduce complexity, and address technical debt in aging codebases
- Contribute to sprint ceremonies — planning, refinement, retrospectives, and demos — and help improve team delivery processes over time
- Use AI-assisted development tools responsibly to improve productivity, code quality, and delivery efficiency
- Collaborate across engineering, data science, and business intelligence teams to deliver integrated solutions

Please apply if you have:

- Demonstrated experience designing, building, and operating backend systems in production environments
- Strong proficiency in Java or a comparable backend language, with comfort working across distributed systems and service integrations
- Experience with system design, performance optimization, and debugging in complex, multi-service environments
- A collaborative working style: you communicate clearly, follow through on commitments, surface risks early, and ask good questions
- Professional proficiency in written and spoken English
- Curiosity and a willingness to challenge existing approaches with concrete, well-reasoned alternatives

You may also bring (not required — equivalent experience, training, or transferable skills considered):

- Familiarity with ad tech systems, bidding logic, or monetization infrastructure
- Experience with server-to-server data integrations or event-driven architectures
- Experience working in an agile team environment with sprint-based delivery
- Comfort with observability tooling, metrics, and production debugging workflows

A specific degree is not required. We welcome candidates from non-traditional educational backgrounds who demonstrate strong engineering fundamentals and a track record of delivering quality software.

Compensation: salary consists of three elements: Base pay: from 3330 EUR up to 6660 EUR gross monthly. In addition:

- Significant yearly bonuses, approx 10 percent of annual salary.
- Booking Holdings RSU (Restricted Stock Units) package, worth 20000 USD gross, with possibility to receive yearly refreshes.

Benefits:

- Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year
- Funds for your career growth
- Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings
- Generous additional Health Insurance
- Flexible sick time off
- Additional financial support for your sick leave
- Additional day off on your birthday
- Company-wide vacation week once a year (winter holidays)
- Additional financial support during parental leave
- Free lunch twice a week and daily snacks at the office
- Free yoga twice a week
- Paid volunteering time
- No meeting Fridays
- Office and team events such as summer camp, KAYAK birthday, winter party and more!
- Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth
- Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace
- Internal Communities

Inclusion At KAYAK, we want everyone to have the space to grow, share ideas and do great work. That’s why we’re focused on hiring the best talent from all walks of life and experiences, supporting them well and making sure no one feels like they have to fit a mold to belong here.

If you need accommodations during the application or interview process, or on the job, we’re here to support you. Please reach out to your recruiter to request any accommodations.

## #LI-MP1

## About KAYAK

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: KAYAK is the world’s leading travel metasearch engine, enabling travelers to compare flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages from hundreds of sites in one place.
- **Entity Type**: Private (subsidiary of Booking Holdings Inc., NASDAQ: BKNG)
- **Headquarters**: Stamford, Connecticut, USA (with 15 international offices)
- **Founded**: 2004
- **Founders**: Steve Hafner (former CEO until February 2026) and Paul English

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Online travel, travel technology, metasearch.
- **Target customers**: B2C (leisure and business travelers) and B2B (travel providers, advertisers, and corporate clients via KAYAK for Business).
- **Mission or purpose statement**: To help travelers make confident travel decisions by providing transparent, comprehensive search results that put control back in their hands. KAYAK believes “travel makes the world better.”

## Products & Services
- **KAYAK Metasearch**: Core product allowing comparison of flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages from hundreds of travel sites.
- **KAYAK for Business (K4B)**: Free corporate travel solution for business travelers.
- **KAYAK Mobile App**: iOS and Android app offering seamless travel planning, price forecasts, price alerts, trip management, and AI-powered search.
- **KAYAK.ai**: AI-powered travel assistant providing personalized tips, live pricing, and conversational booking.
- **Explore Tool**: Inspires spontaneous travel by showing destinations within a chosen budget.
- **Trips**: Personal travel assistant for organizing, managing, and sharing itineraries with real-time flight status.
- **Price Forecast & Alerts**: Predicts price trends and notifies users of changes for flights, hotels, and car rentals.
- **KAYAK for Partners & Advertisers**: Commission-based and advertising revenue models.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed as a subsidiary; parent Booking Holdings has a market cap of ~$150+ billion (as of mid-2025).
- **Key Metric**: Processes billions of searches annually; 800+ team members; 60+ international sites in 25+ languages.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Owned by Booking Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), which acquired KAYAK in 2013. Partners with hundreds of airlines, hotels, online travel agencies, and car rental companies.
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Named #1 Best Airfare Search Site by Frommer’s (2024, 2025).
  - Won World’s Best Flight & Hotel Comparison Website at World Travel Tech Awards (2022–2024).
  - Recognized by Statista & COMPUTER BILD as a Top Online Platform 2025.
  - First mainstream travel company to introduce AI-powered conversational search (KAYAK AI Mode).
  - Expanded portfolio of 7 travel search brands globally.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover in travel metasearch**: Pioneered the concept in 2004, creating a trusted, comprehensive comparison platform.
- **Unbiased results**: Displays fares from all major providers without favoritism, clearly labeling booking sources.
- **Massive data advantage**: Processes billions of searches, enabling powerful AI/ML tools like Price Forecast and AI Mode.
- **Global brand portfolio**: Manages 7 brands (KAYAK, SWOODOO, checkfelix, momondo, Cheapflights, Mundi, HotelsCombined) with a global footprint.
- **Strong financial backing**: Part of Booking Holdings, providing stability and resources for innovation.
- **High trust & recognition**: Consistently ranked #1 by leading travel publications and awards.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI & personalization**: Leading with AI-powered search and conversational planning to improve user experience.
- **Expanding corporate travel**: Growing KAYAK for Business as a free, self-service corporate travel tool.
- **Global scale**: Continuing to expand international sites and language support.
- **Innovation in search tools**: Developing new features like Price Forecast, Explore, and real-time trip management.
- **Maintaining transparency**: Strengthening trust through clear labeling and fair marketplace practices.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Mission-driven, data-obsessed team of 800+ passionate about travel technology; emphasis on career growth, skill development, and individual learning.
- **Work policy**: Hybrid model – team members work from the office three days a week, with flexibility to come in more often. Some roles are fully remote (US-based).
- **Perks**: Part of a global network including OpenTable and a portfolio of travel metasearch brands; employee-resource groups for under-represented communities; global equal-pay policy.
- **Engineering culture**: Strong focus on data, AI, and scalable systems (billions of queries); tech stack includes modern Java, frontend frameworks, and ETL tools.
- **Global opportunities**: 15 international offices with opportunities to work across teams.
- **Recognition**: Named a top employer by Built In and industry awards.
- **Caution**: KAYAK warns of fraudulent job ads – all genuine recruitment ends with @kayak.com, and no payment is ever requested from candidates.

## Sources
1. [kayak.com](https://www.kayak.com/careers/)
2. [kayak.com](https://www.kayak.com/about)
3. [kayak.com](https://www.kayak.com/c/help/about/)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/kayak)
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kayak)

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