Junior Backend Engineer (Java, Spring Boot, GCP, AI Focus) @Toka

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About Toka

Toka is on a mission to make secondhand, first choice.

We’re building the world’s first AI-native resale platform for furniture and home goods. Imagine if buying secondhand felt as smooth, beautiful, and reliable as buying new. We’re aiming to be the amazon of resale.

About the Role

We're hiring an enthusiastic and proactive Junior Backend Engineer to build the core services for our next-generation e-commerce platform. This is a unique opportunity to work primarily with Java and Spring Boot on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including cutting-edge AI technologies like Vertex AI for our agentic messaging layer.

You will be instrumental in foundational setup, developing core resale microservices, and contributing to our AI-powered customer engagement features. If you're passionate about backend development, eager to learn modern cloud architecture, and ready to tackle complex challenges, this role offers significant growth potential.

What You'll Be Doing

You'll be directly contributing to the core development and infrastructure setup of our platform, with a significant focus on robust, scalable backend services:

1. Core Service Development & Features

Developing and maintaining production-grade Java microservices using Spring Boot for critical areas, including User Management, Notification Service, and foundational E-commerce Core components (Listings, Orders).

Writing API endpoints for complex business logic, implementing resilience patterns, and integrating with external providers like Stripe for secure payment processing.

Implementing secure API access and authorisation logic within the services.

2. Cutting-Edge AI & Messaging

Contributing to the Chat Service development for real-time messaging, utilising Firestore as the backend.

Assisting in the development of the IntentHandler Service—a microservice designed to orchestrate actions based on recognised user intent, applying Agentic AI concepts.

Working with the Toka AI Layer setup, potentially integrating with Google Vertex AI for natural language understanding.

3. Foundational Setup & Cloud Engineering

Assisting with the provisioning of core GCP resources (VPC, IAM roles, Cloud SQL, Firestore).

Creating a standardised Spring Boot service template with pre-configured logging and health checks.

Configuring and deploying the API Gateway to handle routing, rate limiting, and security policies.

Assisting with deployment processes on GCE.

4. Quality & Testing

Writing comprehensive unit tests and integration tests for services, ensuring reliability, security, and performance.

Assisting with configuration of centralised logging and monitoring.

Key Technologies You'll Use

Backend Core: Java, Spring Boot, RESTful APIs

Cloud & Data: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Cloud SQL, Firestore, GCE

AI & Messaging: Google Vertex AI, Agentic AI Concepts, Real-time messaging

Integrations: Stripe, Firebase Authentication, Logistics Provider APIs

Tools: Git, Logging/Monitoring Systems

What You'll Bring

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, OR equivalent practical experience (e.g., coding boot camp, substantial project portfolio).

Technical Skills:

• Solid understanding and practical experience with Java development.
• Familiarity with the Spring Boot framework and developing RESTful APIs.
• Basic knowledge of database systems (SQL, vector database and NoSQL).
• Experience with Git for version control and collaborative development.

Soft Skills:

• Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities with a meticulous approach to testing and quality assurance.
• A proactive attitude and a high degree of curiosity, particularly regarding AI/ML application development.
• Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)
• Prior coursework or project experience with any major cloud provider (GCP preferred).
• Demonstrated project experience using Java Spring Boot.
• Experience writing unit tests using frameworks like JUnit or Mockito.

Why Join Us?

This is a ground-floor opportunity to work on a large-scale, modern resale platform. You'll gain invaluable experience in cloud-native development, microservices architecture, and high-stakes financial integrations. Most importantly, you'll be one of the first engineers to contribute to our AI layer, gaining practical experience with Google Vertex AI and applying Agentic AI principles to create intelligent user experiences. We offer a culture that prioritises learning, mentorship, and technical innovation. Our team is made up of some of the brightest minds from Atlassian, Microsoft, Uber and Amazon as well as thorough startup experience which you can lean on and learn from.

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