Node.js Backend Developer - Hybrid Matosinhos (3 Days/Week)

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

Join a pioneering company at the forefront of the electric mobility revolution, building the infrastructure and digital platforms that power the transition to sustainable transportation. This is an opportunity to be part of a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment where your work directly contributes to making the world cleaner and more sustainable. 

Working in a hybrid model (3 days on-site in Matosinhos), you'll collaborate with a talented team focused on delivering products and services that prioritize ease-of-use while adding real economic and environmental value. The company is deeply committed to research and development, fostering an environment where new ideas thrive and teamwork drives positive impact. You'll be working on backend systems that integrate with payment services, ticketing platforms, and various APIs, building the digital backbone of modern electric mobility solutions.

This role is ideal for mid to senior-level Node.js developers who are passionate about clean, readable code and want to contribute to a mission-driven organization. You'll work on complex technical challenges in a microservices architecture, deployed on AWS, while being part of an accelerating industry transformation that's reshaping transportation globally.

PROJECT & CONTEXT

You'll be developing backend systems and APIs that power electric vehicle charging infrastructure and mobility services. Working primarily with Node.js, you'll build scalable, reliable backend services that handle critical operations - from user authentication and payment processing to charging session management and integration with third-party ticketing systems. The architecture emphasizes microservices patterns, allowing independent deployment and scaling of different system components.

Your day-to-day work will involve breaking down complex problems, creating clear technical designs through flowcharts and documentation, and driving towards elegant solutions that balance performance, maintainability, and business requirements. You'll work extensively with both SQL and NoSQL databases (particularly MongoDB), understanding when to apply each paradigm based on data access patterns and consistency requirements.

The technical environment is cloud-native on AWS, utilizing containerization with Docker for consistent deployments across environments. You'll work with REST APIs as the primary integration pattern, potentially touching SOAP for legacy system integrations, and may work with WebSockets for real-time communication needs. The platform relies heavily on Linux environments, requiring comfort with the command line for deployment, troubleshooting, and system administration tasks.

Integration work is a core responsibility - you'll connect the platform with external payment services, ticketing providers, and various third-party APIs, requiring attention to error handling, retry logic, and data consistency across distributed systems. The codebase values clean, readable code that's easy for the team to maintain and extend, with emphasis on comprehensive testing practices to ensure reliability.

Working within Agile methodologies, you'll participate in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives, with expectations to complete projects on time while maintaining quality standards. The team environment encourages both collaborative teamwork and autonomous work, trusting engineers to own their areas while supporting each other's success.

Core Tech Stack: Node.js, JavaScript, Express.js, MongoDB
APIs & Integration: REST APIs, Swagger/OpenAPI, potential SOAP integrations
Infrastructure: Docker, AWS (various services), Nginx, Linux/*NIX environments
Development Practices: Microservices architecture, Git version control, Agile/Scrum
Domain: Electric mobility, EV charging infrastructure, payment integration, ticketing systems

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR (Required)

• Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Management Informatics, or related field (mandatory requirement)
• Backend Development Experience: Proven experience in backend development with track record of building production systems
• Node.js Expertise: Extensive hands-on experience with Node.js for backend services development
• Asynchronous Programming: Deep understanding of how Node.js manages asynchronous operations - event loop, callbacks, promises, async/await patterns
• Memory Management: Knowledge of how to prevent and detect memory leaks in Node.js applications, profiling and debugging techniques
• Database Knowledge: Solid experience with both SQL and NoSQL databases, particularly MongoDB, understanding trade-offs between different data stores
• Problem-Solving Skills: Strong ability to break down complex problems, create technical designs (flowcharts, diagrams), and drive towards practical solutions
• Code Quality: Focus on writing clean, readable, and maintainable code following best practices and coding standards
• Linux/Unix Proficiency: Comfortable with the *NIX command line for development, deployment, debugging, and system administration tasks
• Testing Practices: Hands-on experience with testing methodologies (unit tests, integration tests) and ability to explain testing approaches used in past projects
• Team Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively in a team environment, collaborating on shared codebases and participating in code reviews
• Autonomous Work: Willingness and ability to work autonomously on assigned tasks, taking ownership and initiative
• Project Delivery: Track record of completing projects on time while maintaining quality standards
• Agile Methodology: Experience working within Agile/Scrum frameworks with participation in ceremonies and iterative delivery
• SQL vs NoSQL Understanding: Clear understanding of differences between SQL and NoSQL databases and when to use each approach
• Language: Excellent English skills (B2+ minimum) both written and spoken for technical communication and documentation
• Nationality: Portuguese nationality
• Location: Based in Northern Portugal region (Porto/Matosinhos area) with availability for 3 days on-site per week in Matosinhos office

NICE TO HAVE (Preferred)

• TypeScript Experience: Understanding of TypeScript advantages and practical experience using TypeScript for type-safe Node.js development
• API Integration Expertise: Extensive experience with REST and SOAP API integrations, handling authentication, error scenarios, and data transformation
• Microservices Architecture: Hands-on experience developing in microservices architecture with understanding of service boundaries, inter-service communication, and distributed system challenges
• Payment Services Integration: Experience integrating with payment service providers (PSPs), handling payment flows, PCI compliance, and transaction security
• Ticketing Services Integration: Experience with ticketing platform integrations for event management, transportation, or similar domains
• Express.js Mastery: Deep knowledge of Express.js framework including middleware patterns, routing, error handling, and performance optimization
• Advanced MongoDB: Expertise with MongoDB advanced features - aggregation pipelines, indexing strategies, replication, sharding for scalability
• WebSockets: Experience implementing real-time communication using WebSockets for bi-directional data flows
• Docker Expertise: Advanced Docker knowledge - multi-stage builds, optimization, Docker Compose for local development
• AWS Services: Hands-on experience with various AWS services - EC2, Lambda, S3, RDS, ElastiCache, API Gateway, CloudWatch
• Git Advanced: Advanced Git workflows - branching strategies, merge conflict resolution, Git hooks, collaborative development patterns
• Nginx Configuration: Experience configuring Nginx as reverse proxy, load balancer, or API gateway
• Shell Scripting: Proficiency in shell scripts for automation, deployment, and system administration tasks
• API Documentation: Experience with Swagger/OpenAPI for API specification, documentation, and client generation
• EV Charging Standards: Understanding of electric vehicle charging protocols (OCPP, OCPI) or smart mobility ecosystems
• CI/CD Pipelines: Experience with automated deployment pipelines (GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Message Queues: Experience with message brokers (RabbitMQ, Redis Pub/Sub) for asynchronous processing
• Security Best Practices: Understanding of authentication/authorization patterns (OAuth, JWT), secure coding practices, and API security
• Performance Optimization: Experience with Node.js performance profiling, optimization techniques, and caching strategies (Redis)
• Observability: Hands-on experience with monitoring, logging, and alerting tools (CloudWatch, ELK Stack, Prometheus, Grafana)
• Alternative Databases: Experience with PostgreSQL, MySQL, or other relational databases beyond MongoDB
• GraphQL: Understanding of GraphQL as alternative to REST for API design
• Event-Driven Architecture: Experience with event-driven patterns and eventual consistency models
• Load Testing: Experience with load testing tools and capacity planning for high-traffic systems

Location: Matosinhos, Porto District (Hybrid - 3 days on-site/week)