Distributed System / Backend Engineer (Reading, PA)

We are seeking a highly skilled Distributed Systems / Backend Engineer to join our team and build, scale, and optimize high-throughput backend systems. This role will focus on designing and supporting event-driven architectures, with a strong emphasis on Java, Spring Boot, and Kafka-based messaging systems.
This is a hands-on engineering role where you will contribute to core backend services, support production systems, and partner closely with frontend and DevOps teams to ensure system reliability and performance.

Key Responsibilities
• Design, build, and maintain distributed systems that support high-scale, real-time applications
• Develop and optimize event-driven architectures using Kafka and messaging frameworks
• Write clean, production-grade code using Java and Spring Boot
• Collaborate with frontend engineers to deliver reliable backend APIs and services
• Build and maintain high-throughput data pipelines and messaging systems
• Conduct code reviews, troubleshoot issues, and contribute to overall system design
• Partner with DevOps teams on deployment, monitoring, and operational excellence
Implement tooling and processes to improve system observability, reliability, and scalability

We are a company committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments where people can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day. We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer that believes everyone matters. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment regardless of their race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic factors, age, disability, protected veteran status, military or uniformed service member status, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to View email address on click.appcast.io learn more about how we collect, keep, and process your private information, please review Insight Global's Workforce Privacy Policy:


Required Skills & Experience
- Strong experience in distributed systems with strong fundamentals
- Kafka deep expertise: Partitioning, replication, consumer groups, offset management, Schema Registry
- High-throughput messaging architecture: Event-driven patterns, exactly-once vs. at-least-once semantics, backpressure handling
- Strong Java platform skills: Concurrency, JVM tuning, Kafka client APIs (Producer/Consumer/Streams)
- Performance optimization & Cost management: Profiling, load testing, infrastructure right-sizing, etc,
- Hands-on engineering: Writes production code, conducts reviews, builds operational tooling
- Team support and ops ownership working with DevOps
- ***Ability to go onsite 3x a week in Reading, PA***


Benefit packages for this role will start on the 1st day of employment and include medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as HSA, FSA, and DCFSA account options, and 401k retirement account access with employer matching. Employees in this role are also entitled to paid sick leave and/or other paid time off as provided by applicable law.