Senior Backend Engineer – GraphQL Federation

About the role

eBay is looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and evolution of its global GraphQL Federation platform. You will shape the infrastructure that powers hundreds of internal teams and millions of users, ensuring seamless data access across the eCommerce ecosystem.

Key responsibilities

• Architect and implement high‑performance federated schemas using Apollo Federation and WunderGraph.
• Develop core tooling and gateways that enable distributed teams to integrate services into a unified, reliable schema.
• Drive query‑optimization, advanced caching, and efficient schema composition at global scale.
• Implement security patterns (authentication, authorization), rate limiting, and observability across the federation layer.
• Provide technical leadership, guiding teams on REST vs. GraphQL trade‑offs and applying SOLID principles.

Required profile

• 6+ years of backend engineering experience, with production‑grade GraphQL Federation.
• Strong expertise in Java (Spring Boot) and Node.js, comfortable moving between JVM and JavaScript environments.
• Proven experience designing microservices, distributed systems, and data models, including multithreading and asynchronous processing.
• Hands‑on experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Maven), and cloud‑native deployment patterns.
• Platform‑as‑product mindset focused on reliability, scalability, and developer experience.

Required skills

• GraphQL, Apollo Federation, WunderGraph
• Java, Spring Boot
• Node.js
• Microservices architecture
• Distributed systems
• Kubernetes
• Jenkins, Maven, CI/CD
• Authentication & Authorization (AuthN/AuthZ)
• Rate limiting, observability
• Caching strategies, query optimization
• SOLID principles