Senior Java Engineer (PST overlap)

About the role Our client is one of the largest game studios known for their very successful MOBA and FPS franchises. You will be a member of the Organized Play team that builds the systems that power competitive play - from tournament registration and operator tooling to the backend services that drive player and fan-facing experiences. We’re hiring a Senior Backend Software Engineer to help build and extend tournament systems supporting Organized Play initiatives. You’ll work across: • Compete Services - Spring Boot-based services supporting tournament workflows and public-facing APIs • Esports Services - modelling tournaments, brackets, and match structures The core challenge here is complex business logic and correctness. These systems directly impact competitive outcomes and the experiences of players and fans. This is a hands-on senior role with end-to-end ownership. Please note, availability to attend afternoon/evening meetings is a requirement for this role as most of the team is located on the US West Coast (LA and Seattle) Responsibilities • Implement tournament lifecycle logic (Swiss, playoffs, standings, tiebreakers) • Build workflows for registration, dropouts, rule enforcement, and audit logging • Extend backend services that model tournaments and match structures • Design and evolve clean, maintainable backend components • Develop REST and GraphQL APIs • Work with relational databases to model and query tournament data • Debug complex production issues and review peer code • Participate fully in 2-week sprints and team rituals Required qualifications • 6+ years backend development experience with ownership of production systems. • Strong modern Java (17+) • Experience building services with Spring Boot or similar frameworks • Demonstrated ability to design clean, maintainable backend architectures • Experience building systems with complex workflows or state transitions • Experience designing REST APIs • Experience with JPA/Hibernate or strong SQL-first data modeling (e.g., JOOQ) • Solid relational database fundamentals • Comfortable working independently in a remote environment Nice to have • Experience with GraphQL APIs • Experience with event-driven systems (Kinesis, Kafka, etc.) • Experience implementing caching or rate limiting • Experience building correctness-critical systems • Experience building internal/operator tools • Experience with competitive or gaming platforms • Familiarity with trading card games (TCGs) and tournament formats (e.g., Swiss rounds, decklists, brackets), or a strong interest in competitive gaming, esports