Role overviewCarGurus' Conversion team is looking for a Software Development Engineer II (Backend) to help dealers close more of the leads we send them. We turn shopper activity on our marketplace into a clear picture of who each buyer is and what they're looking for, then recommend the next move to the salesperson working that lead. Thousands of dealerships rely on it every day.
You'll work in the Java and Spring Boot services behind all of this: enriching each lead as it arrives, consuming high-volume event streams, and serving the APIs that power the dashboards dealers work in. It's a small team, so you'll take real ownership early. You'll partner closely with product, design, and other backend and frontend engineers to move projects from technical design through implementation and launch, and you'll see the result in dealer adoption and close rates.
What you'll do- Design, build, and ship features in the Java and Spring Boot services that enrich every lead and power the insights dealers act on every day
- Own your work from technical design through testing, code review, and production, with support from the team when you need it
- Work with high-volume event streams and the data behind them (Kafka, MongoDB, Redis) to keep shopper data fresh and APIs fast
- Build intelligence features, including LLM-backed ones, that recommend a dealer's next move rather than just handing them data
- Diagnose and fix production issues across services, share in on-call, and improve the alerting and observability we rely on
- Partner with product and design to break ambiguous problems into scoped, shippable work, with a real say in what we build and how
- Help raise the bar on how we test, deploy, and operate the services we own
What you'll bring- 2-4 years of hands-on software development experience in a professional setting
- Proficiency in Java, ideally with Spring Boot
- Solid working knowledge of MongoDB or another NoSQL datastore, and comfort with SQL
- Practical understanding of RESTful API design, microservices, and distributed systems, including event streams or message queues (Kafka, SQS, or similar) and caching trade-offs
- Hands-on experience with AWS and cloud infrastructure
- A strong understanding of data structures, algorithms, and complexity analysis
- A habit of writing automated tests, and a sense for which tests a change actually needs
- Experience or interest in leveraging AI coding tools to accelerate development (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor)
- Nice to have: Python, and hands-on experience with LLM or agent frameworks such as LangChain or LangGraph
- Clear communication, curiosity, and a bias toward shipping, with genuine interest in learning the dealer domain
The displayed range represents the expected annual base salary / On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this position. On-Target Earnings (OTE) is inclusive of base salary and on-target commission earnings, which applies exclusively to sales roles.
Individual pay within this range is determined by work location and other factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
This annual base salary forms part of a comprehensive Total Rewards Package. In addition to benefits, this role may qualify for discretionary bonuses/incentives and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).
Position Pay Range
$112,000-$141,000 USD
CarGurus may require in-person interviews as part of our hiring process, particularly for positions based in our Boston and Dublin offices. Candidates selected for an in-person interview will be notified in advance. Please be aware that travel expenses are the responsibility of the candidate.
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