Software Development Engineer III — 3PIP Integrations & Inventory Systems

We're looking for a strong SDE III to take ownership of a meaningful part of this platform and the challenges that come with it.

There is a lot in front of us. We're continuously growing the range and volume of inventory the platform supports, and at the same time modernizing it so that it integrates more easily and serves a wider set of customer needs. Scaling what exists while reshaping the foundations underneath it is where most of the interesting engineering sits — and it's where this role lives. You'll have an area of the platform as your own rather than a queue of tickets, a genuine say in its architecture, and a direct hand in where it goes over the next few years.

In this role you'll be:

Owning parts of the platform end to end, so that customers can discover, book, pay for, and use what they've bought without friction

Designing and building services in Groupon's microservices ecosystem, and modernizing existing ones as the platform evolves

Strengthening the core platform itself — the abstractions, data model, and tooling that everything else is built on

Bringing new inventory and new partners onto the platform, and making each one easier than the last

Keeping the systems you own healthy — defining metrics and alerting, investigating behavior that spans several services, and turning what you find into durable fixes

Shaping technical design discussions and influencing architecture decisions

Mentoring engineers earlier in their careers, and raising the bar on code review and design quality

The work spans both partner-facing integration and core platform engineering, and most engineers here do some of each.

Today

Java 21 backend services (Dropwizard), PostgreSQL / MySQL

REST/JSON APIs, Kafka, state-machine-driven workflow orchestration

GCP and AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins CI/CD

GitHub, Jira, ELK

Where we're going

TypeScript-first backend services built on Encore, running on GCP

Cloud-native architecture with strong service ownership and a focus on developer productivity

Java depth is what you'll draw on from day one. The move toward TypeScript and GCP is real and already underway — something you'll help shape rather than inherit, and one of the more interesting learning opportunities on the team right now.

AI agentic workflows are part of how this team builds — implementation, code review, investigation, and operational work — and we pay attention to the difference they make. Familiarity with tools like Claude Code or Cursor is valuable, and an interest in working this way matters more than existing expertise. We're still learning where these tools help most and where they don't, and we'd like the person in this role to bring their own judgment to that question.

Wide ownership, with the context, access, and trust needed to act on it

Hands-on work with a modern stack — TypeScript, Encore, and GCP — on real production systems

A shared on-call rotation, with engineering time deliberately set aside for removing recurring alerts rather than living with them

Mentorship in both directions — senior engineers here teach, and also learn from the people they work with

Room to influence direction, including which parts of the platform get invested in next

6+ years building and operating production systems, with strong hands-on Java

Solid CS fundamentals — data structures, algorithms, design patterns, databases, operating systems

Real experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL or MySQL), including reasoning about queries, indexes, and transactions at scale

Experience with systems where correctness matters and many things happen concurrently

Comfort tracing behavior across multiple systems to its actual root cause

Clear written and verbal communication with both engineers and non-technical stakeholders

A degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Also useful: third-party API integration experience, e-commerce or ticketing domain background, NoSQL exposure, TypeScript or Node.js, or experience working with compliance requirements such as SOX or PCI.

If you don't match every point above but these are the problems you want to be working on, we'd still like to hear from you.

Ownership — we measure ourselves by outcomes, not tickets closed

Craft — reliable, maintainable code, because we operate what we build

Customer focus — a booking is someone's evening out or family day, and we build like that matters

Pragmatism — knowing which trade-offs are cheap and which ones compound

Curiosity — the stack under us is changing, and that's part of the appeal

If this sounds like the kind of platform you'd enjoy building, we'd love to talk.

Groupon is an AI-First Company We’re committed to building smarter, faster, and more innovative ways of working and AI plays a key role in how we get there. We encourage candidates to leverage AI tools during the hiring process where it adds value, and we’re always keen to hear how technology improves the way you work. If you’re passionate about AI or curious to explore how it can elevate your role you’ll be right at home here. Groupon’s purpose is to build strong communities through thriving small businesses. To learn more about the world’s largest local e-commerce marketplace, click here. You can also find out more about us in the latest Groupon new s as well as learning about our DEI approach. If all of this sounds like something that’s a great fit for you, then click apply and join us on a mission to become the ultimate destination for local experiences and services.

Beware of Recruitment Fraud: Groupon follows a merit-based recruitment process without charging job seekers any fees. We've noticed an increase in recruitment fraud, including fake job postings and fraudulent interviews and job offers aimed at stealing personal information or money. Be cautious of individuals falsely representing Groupon's Talent Acquisition team with fake job offers. If you encounter any suspicious job offers or interview calls demanding money, recognize these as scams. Groupon is not responsible for losses from such dealings. For legitimate job openings (and a sneak peek into life at Groupon), always check our official career website at Groupon Careers