Posted 4 months ago
Senior Backend Software Engineer
@ Top Hat
Remote in Canada
Overview
Top Hat is hiring a Senior Backend Software Engineer for its Aktiv Platform team. The role leads complex feature delivery in Java and Spring Boot, influences architecture, and mentors junior engineers. The posting describes a flexible, remote-first environment with competitive health benefits.
Responsibilities:
- Lead full lifecycle development of complex features
- Drive technical delivery and architectural decisions
- Mentor junior and intermediate engineers through code reviews
- Identify operational risks and drive redundancy and disaster recovery
- Partner with frontend, product and design teams
Requirements summary:
- Extensive Java and Spring Boot experience
- Experience with MongoDB
- Enterprise-level software systems experience
- Architectural vision balancing short and long-term value
- Commitment to testable, observable, maintainable code
- Experience with high-traffic systems (preferred)
Tools & skills
Benefits mentioned
Source and dates
Employer career site / ATS feed · ashby
- Employer posting date
- 2026-07-23
- First seen by our source
- 2026-10-08
- Source record updated
- 2026-10-09
These dates describe the source record, not a live verification that the employer is still hiring. Check the original posting.
Job details
| Seniority | Senior |
| Department | Software development |
| Hours per week | 40 (estimated) |
| Work setting | Home |
| Position | Mostly sitting |
| Physical demands | physical low · computer high |
| Languages | English |
| Perks mentioned | Generous paid time off, Flexible hours |
Summary and details written by AI from the posting; the employer’s posting is the authority.
Top Hat
Saved company profile
Historical company information from a saved The Jobs API profile (LinkedIn/Crunchbase fields). It is not live-verified; figures may have changed. Missing values remain unknown.
Top Hat's dynamic courseware and AI-enhanced features empower educators to give students personalized learning.
Full company description
Reimagining Engagement in Higher Education Top Hat is the leader in student engagement for higher education. Grounded in learning science and powered by AI, our platform helps educators create interactive, personalized learning experiences that deepen connection, strengthen belonging, and drive student success. A Platform Built for the Way Students Learn What started as a tool to make lectures more interactive has grown into something bigger—a platform that makes learning come alive, from the first class to the final exam. Everything we build supports how students learn best: by doing, questioning, solving, and applying knowledge. Today, 30,000+ instructors at over 1,500 institutions use Top Hat to support more than 3 million students, turning classrooms into spaces of active exploration and connection. Our platform combines real-time engagement tools with customizable, interactive textbooks, homework, testing, and powerful analytics—all in one integrated experience. With Top Hat Ace, our AI-powered teaching and learning assistant, educators save time on course prep, and students get the personalized study help they need to stay confident and on track. Sparking Better Teaching and Learning Learning happens when students feel connected to their instructors, their peers, and the material. That’s why Top Hat is built to do more than deliver content. We help educators teach with proven practices that boost engagement, comprehension, and outcomes—while keeping the human element at the heart of it all.
- LinkedIn followers
- 31,767
- People associated on LinkedIn
- 464
- Reported office locations
- 151 Bloor Street West, 200, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1S4, CA
- Business categories
- Education
- Software
- EdTech
- Mobile
- Other recorded names
- Top Hat
- Specialties
- real-time feedback
- classroom polling
- e-learning
- educational technology
- mobile classroom engagement
- interactive content
- affordable textbooks
- classroom response system
- active learning platform
- active learning
- engagement platform
- and AI teaching and learning platform
- Profile identifies a recruitment agency
- No
- Reported total investment
- 234,400,000
Currency and observation date were not supplied; this is not a current valuation or a funding round.
Reimagining Engagement in Higher Education Top Hat is the leader in student engagement for higher education. Grounded in learning science and powered by AI, our platform helps educators create interactive, personalized learning experiences that deepen connection, strengthen belonging, and drive student success. A Platform Built for the Way Students Learn What started as a tool to make lectures more interactive has…
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software Development |
| Company size | 201-500 employees |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Organization type | Privately Held |
| Year founded | 2009 |
| Specialties | real-time feedbackclassroom pollinge-learningeducational technologymobile classroom engagementinteractive contentaffordable textbooksclassroom response systemactive learning platformactive learning |
| Open jobs on Jobsy | 4 |
| View page |
Top Hat is hiring for a Senior Backend Software Engineer on our Aktiv Platform team. This is a great opportunity to drive force behind the technical excellence of our ecosystem. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, leading the delivery of complex features and ensuring the stability of our high-traffic systems. This role is designed for an engineer who is not only a master of their craft in Java and Spring Boot but also a dedicated mentor and a proactive problem-solver.
You will:
Independent Implementation: Lead the full software development lifecycle for complex features, including implementation, comprehensive testing, and debugging of robust code.
Technical Leadership: Drive the technical delivery of projects, influencing architectural decisions and ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with long-term business goals.
Mentorship & Guidance: Actively mentor junior and intermediate engineers, providing constructive feedback through code reviews and documentation to support their professional growth.
Operational Excellence: Proactively identify operational risks and control deficiencies. Drive discussions regarding system redundancy, disaster recovery, and service availability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Frontend Engineers, Product Managers, and Designers to build cohesive, user-centric solutions.
Process Innovation: Identify opportunities for automation and suggest UI improvements to enhance the overall user experience and internal delivery efficiency.
You are:
Expert Java Foundation: Extensive experience with Java and a deep understanding of core programming principles and best practices. Proven expertise in Spring Boot for building scalable microservices and experience managing data with MongoDB.
Enterprise Experience: A track record of working on enterprise-level software systems that require high reliability and performance.
Architectural Vision: Ability to design and implement forward-thinking architectures that balance short-term value with long-term sustainability.
Quality Focused: Strong commitment to delivering testable, observable, and maintainable code.
Preferred Experience:
High-Traffic Systems: Experience designing and maintaining systems that handle high volumes of traffic and parallel connections.
Open Source Passion: A demonstrated passion for contributing to or leveraging open-source technologies.
UI/UX Awareness: A keen eye for user interface improvements and the ability to contribute to frontend-related technical discussions.
Infrastructure & Cloud: Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) and containerization tools like Jenkins, Docker, or Kubernetes.
Why team members love working at Top Hat:
A noble mission that creates meaningful, fulfilling work
A team that cares deeply for customers and for each other
Flexible, remote first work environment
Professional learning and development for all role levels
An awesome and welcoming Toronto HQ
Competitive health benefits that start on day one
A management team focused on performance, growth, engagement and connection
Our winning strategy and market potential
Innovative PTO policy with lots of time and space for self-care
Passionate customers that believe in us—and what we do
A chance to work with new tech like generative AI—and see the customer impact
Inclusion Statement:
Inclusion at Top Hat goes beyond compliance; it’s how we build better teams and better technology. Our Equal Opportunity Employment policy helps ensure a workplace where people of all backgrounds are respected and empowered, regardless of culture, national or ethnic origin, race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, religion, family status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.
Accessibility Statement:
We want every candidate to have an equitable experience. If you require assistance or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please reach out to us at [email protected]. By fostering an inclusive and supportive environment, we unlock collaboration, innovation, and personal growth across our global Top Hat community.
AI in Hiring:
To help streamline our hiring process, we may use AI-powered tools for tasks such as application screening, resume review, or response assessment. These technologies support our recruiters by improving efficiency, but human judgment remains central. Final hiring decisions are always made by people.
Journal
Only you can see this. Kept on this device, and in your account when you sign in.