Senior API Engineer

At illumin, we are transforming the advertising landscape. Our platform offers an integrated space for journey planning, execution, and reporting. It empowers marketers to connect with their audiences in powerful ways through real-time data and easy-to-use visual tools. By seamlessly combining media planning and buying in an intuitive interface, marketers can take complete control of their campaigns, meeting customers wherever they are in the buying journey and maximizing the impact of their ad spend through personalized insights for smarter decision-making.

We are at a pivotal moment, evolving into a product-led company with a team of over 100 skilled professionals and new leadership guiding our path forward. By harnessing the power of data, advancing our AI capabilities, and deeply investing in our people, we are preparing for a future that will redefine what’s possible in journey advertising.

Our work is guided by two beliefs: that the ability to execute is paramount to success and that we are only as good as our people. As we grow and transform, we are looking for team members (illumineers) who share our bias for speed, delivery over perfection, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Joining us now is a chance to be part of our transformation.

Who we need

Reporting to the API Engineering Manager, we are looking for a Senior API Engineer. You will play a pivotal role in building and optimizing high-performance APIs that power programmatic advertising, real-time bidding (RTB), and data-driven marketing. As a strong individual contributor, you will design and develop scalable systems, advising on technical decisions that impact our entire API stack. You will collaborate across technical pillars and provide expertise to guide junior team members, ensuring adherence to best practices through rigorous code and tech spec reviews.

This is a hybrid opportunity, working Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays on-site in our downtown Toronto office. Our headquarters are located within minutes of St. Andrew and Union subway stations.

What's in it for you

Impact. You are driven to change an industry by delivering a platform that clients actively seek out and value. Our customers recognize and value our relentless focus on driving their success. As part of a small engineering team within a publicly traded, product-led company, you will play a pivotal role in shaping a product revolutionizing the industry.

Technical exposure. Our platform processes nearly 150 billion requests daily, driving programmatic traffic globally across all devices, streaming services, and out-of-home targeted advertising. Working with data at this scale is a rare opportunity, and the code you write will reach an audience comparable to those of the world’s largest tech companies. This is an opportunity to be part of a development team with the autonomy to choose how they work and code, taking ownership of introducing and adopting new tools and executing with excellence.

Professional development. You want to grow - your skills, your influence, your career. We push the limits to improve and to reach our full potential, individually and as a company. We are committed to building the strengths of our team. You will be supported by your manager and have access to one-on-one coaching with our Chief Empowerment Officer's team. Your accountabilities, learning opportunities, and scope for ownership and career growth will rapidly expand as we continue to step up to meet the increased value and shifting needs for AdTech.

How you will make an impact:

1. Be a significant individual contributor. You will play a pivotal role in delivering critical projects that bring tangible value to our customers. You will design and develop essential components of complex API systems assisting with scalability, system monitoring, contributing directly with minimal oversight. Your experience will shape key technical decisions, and you will proactively track the performance of delivered code, ensuring it meets both user needs and business objectives.
2. Advise and lead technical decisions. You will be instrumental in guiding decisions that impact the entire API stack at illumin. Collaborating with stakeholders and senior engineers across teams, you will identify and address technical challenges, ensuring your contributions drive meaningful impact. Your recommendations on technical debt consolidation will help optimize performance and meet business needs efficiently.
3. Collaborate and enhance Agile processes. As an active participant in Agile Scrum processes, you will break down complex functionalities into manageable tasks and engage in daily stand-ups. You will collaborate with your team to address challenges, explore missed opportunities, and share insights that improve project outcomes. Your input will ensure smooth project execution, from concept to completion.
4. Foster growth and mentorship. You will lead by example, coaching your team on problem-solving, Agile methodologies, and efficient development practices. Your mentorship will help junior team members refine their skills and uphold software development best practices. By conducting rigorous code and tech spec reviews and driving comprehensive testing, you will ensure the quality and success of the team's work.

What you bring:

1. The experience. You are passionate about building technical solutions and have an appetite for unpacking complexity and simplifying it wherever possible. You have worked closely with Product & Design to design, implement and iterate on high-impact end-to-end product experiences.
2. The technical expertise. You have experience analyzing, benchmarking and optimizing web application performance across the entire stack. You are very comfortable working with relational databases and key-value stores. You have expertise in Kotlin, Java, Spring/Spring Boot, Swagger, Kubernetes, Docker, and Microservices, as well as an understanding of API design principles, microservices architecture, and distributed systems.
3. The interpersonal skills. You take a collaborative approach and can lead by example. You can translate complex technical details to a non-technical audience. You can build trusting relations and work efficiently across teams in person and remotely. You are quick to adapt when priorities shift and take feedback well. You are comfortable with ambiguity and willing to figure things out when no clear path or process is outlined. You have a genuine appreciation for diverse experiences and backgrounds.
4. The growth mindset. You are naturally curious and open to learning from others and independently. You acknowledge your mistakes and can adapt to setbacks. You are resourceful and can use new knowledge to solve problems. You are passionate about staying current with the latest tools and best practices.

What else should you know about us?

We are undergoing a transformative shift. We are embracing change and the opportunities that come with it, empowering every illumineer to innovate, experiment, and bring forward new ideas. Whether accessing new technology, restructuring workflows, or expanding your team, you will have full support if you can make the business case.

We are a broad and diverse team, but we all share a passion for success, a drive to do more, and a love of creating connections. We hire for talent and commitment and provide the guidelines and guidance to elevate skills, knowledge, and abilities across all areas. This is a place where proven methods meet bold ideas, offering opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

To support a healthy work-life balance, we offer a flexible work environment, a meal credit for your in-office days, and a free massage with an RMT in-house every eight weeks. That is in addition to our comprehensive benefits, which include life, AD&D, long-term disability insurance, and coverage for prescriptions, dental, vision, mental health, and professional health services. You will also have access to a workplace advisor, the Vitality Wellness app, and a $300 annual healthcare spending account.

Apply now

If you want to seize the opportunity to impact a company and influence an industry, and you have 70% of what we are looking for, apply now. We can't promise an interview, but we will consider your whole application.

What you can expect from our interview process:

1. A take home technical assessment to review your skills.
2. A virtual interview with a senior Talent Advisor to discuss your experience and interest in the role and an online technical assessment.
3. An in-person technical assessment with a Senior Engineer, focusing on data structures and algorithms to evaluate your problem-solving abilities.
4. An in-person or virtual interview with the VP of Engineering and a Senior Engineer. You will focus on your approach to solving complex problems, including a system design discussion where you will whiteboard solutions and evaluate the pros and cons of different approaches to live system challenges. It will be an opportunity to ask any further questions about the role, team and product trajectory.

illumin is firmly committed to diversity within its community and welcomes applications from racialized persons/persons of colour, Indigenous People of North America and the world, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, and those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

We are committed to providing equitable opportunities in employment and to providing a workplace which is free from discrimination and harassment. We are equally committed to providing an inclusive and accessible workplace. If you require accommodations at any stage of the interview process, please email us at hr@illumin.com.

Help us maintain an inclusive culture.

We want anyone, anywhere to have the same chance and opportunity to build a life they love and that they are proud of. We are proactive in creating a belonging environment that anyone can be a part of. Thoughtful, data-driven decision-making is core to this success. We ask these questions to strengthen our practices by using data to identify and mitigate unconscious bias in our hiring process.

If you choose to answer them, the responses are ONLY used in aggregate to help us identify areas for improvement in our processes. Your responses, or your choice to prefer not to say, will not be associated with your application and will not in any way be used in the hiring decision. For one, that’s illegal, and we’re really not into breaking the law. Keep being awesome, and thank you for considering work at illumin.

1.) Indigenous peoples: Based on the definition below, are you an Indigenous person?
"Indigenous peoples" means First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples of Canada.*

2.) Persons with disabilities: Based on the definition below, are you a person with a disability?
"Persons with disabilities" are individuals who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric, or learning impairment, and who consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment. This includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace.*

3.) Members of visible minorities: Based on the definition below, are you a member of a visible minority?
"Members of visible minorities" are persons, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour, regardless of birthplace.*

4.) To which gender identity do you most identify?*

5.) What are your salary expectations?**

6.) Are you legally eligible to work in Canada on an ongoing basis?*

7.) Preferred Name

8.) If you have been referred by an illumin employee, include their name below.

9.) Do you have professional experience developing and optimizing APIs for high-performance systems like programmatic advertising or real-time bidding?*

10.) Have you worked extensively with Kotlin or Java and Spring/Spring Boot in a production environment?*

11.) Do you have hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies like Docker and Kubernetes?*