Senior Java Software Engineer, Search team

About the role

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We’re also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business.

As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

We are looking for strong Senior Java backend developers to implement new features and maintain KAYAK’s world leading search and booking technology. We integrate with over 200 travel partners and link to over 500,000 hotels and 550 airlines. You will be an essential part of a high powered team that keeps all of this running smoothly – helping millions of people find the best hotels and the best ways to fly from A to B every day!

This role will be required to work from our Kaunas office at least 3 days per week.

IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL:

- Design and maintain scalable backend search capabilities focused on speed, reliability, relevance, and user experience.

- Own complex technical solutions from design through operational support.

- Provide technical leadership by guiding architecture discussions and maintaining high engineering standards.

- Collaborate with commercial, data, and engineering teams to deliver robust technical solutions.

- Resolve production issues, improve system reliability, and reduce technical debt.

- Mentor engineers and contribute to better testing, observability, CI/CD, and development practices.

PLEASE APPLY IF YOU HAVE:

- Education in Computer Science or a related field.

- 5+ years of experience with the Java ecosystem and Spring Framework (Boot, Security).

- Expertise in designing for high-throughput data environments using PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Redis.

- Fluent English communication skills.

- Previous experience with AI/LLM would be a plus.

BONUS SKILLS:

- Exposure to ElasticSearch or similar search technologies.

COMPENSATION:

Salary consists of three elements:

Base pay: from 3330 EUR up to 6660 EUR gross monthly In addition:

- Significant yearly bonuses, approx 10 percent of annual salary.

- Booking Holdings RSU (Restricted Stock Units) package, worth 20000 USD gross, with possibility to receive yearly refreshes.

BENEFITS:

- Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year

- Funds for your career growth

- Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings