Senior Backend Engineer – Energy Optimization & Platform

At Priva Energy, we build software systems that help customers manage and optimize energy in real-world environments, from greenhouses to buildings. You'll join one of our Energy Solutions teams (spanning Building Automation, Horticulture, and Energy Flexibility Trading), landing wherever the need is greatest at the time, and you'll also carry some responsibility for the cloud infrastructure and scalability that benefits teams beyond your own. 

You'll work at the intersection of three things: shipping features end-to-end in Priva Digital Services (touching both backend and, where needed, the front end), integrating optimization and forecasting logic into production services, and strengthening the cloud/DevOps foundation the whole department builds on. You don't need to be equally deep in all three, but you do need to be comfortable moving between them, and you should genuinely enjoy the connective, systems-level work of making things run reliably in production. 

Come Shape the Future of Sustainable Energy with Priva 

Priva Energy is working to become the leading global lifecycle partner for high-performing, sustainable buildings, horticultural operations, and energy distribution and management companies. Energy systems are transforming fast: grid congestion, dynamic pricing, decentralized production, and tightening sustainability regulation are reshaping what our customers need from us. Our Digital Twin and optimization technologies exist to meet that shift at scale, delivering measurable results such as lower energy intensity, greater flexibility and reliability, reduced operating costs, and structurally lower emissions. 

As a Senior Backend Engineer, you'll help turn that ambition into production reality: building the services, integrations, and cloud foundation that put our optimization and forecasting capabilities to work for customers every day. 

Your work will directly contribute to: 

• Reducing and optimizing energy costs and emissions across Europe 

• Enabling customers to participate in future energy flexibility and trading markets 

• Optimizing multi-energy systems (heat, cold, electricity, storage, HVAC) 

• Driving the transition toward autonomous, intelligent buildings and greenhouses 

• Helping customers stay compliant with increasing regulatory pressure (e.g., CSRD) 

What You’ll Do 

Priva Digital Services & product engineering 

• Design and build backend services that process data and execute optimization logic for products across Neo Heat, Neo Light, Neo Building, and Neo Smart 

• Contribute to user-facing Priva Digital Services features end-to-end, including front-end work where it's the fastest path to shipping value 

• Build and maintain APIs for internal and external integration 

Optimization & forecasting integration 

• Implement and integrate optimization and forecasting logic into scalable, production-ready systems. You bring these models into production; you don't develop new optimization theory 

• Work on data processing pipelines, scheduling logic, and system orchestration 

Cloud infrastructure & DevOps 

• Own and improve cloud infrastructure (Azure) that supports scalability across Energy Solutions teams 

• Strengthen CI/CD, monitoring, and deployment practices so systems are reliable, performant, and maintainable in real-world operation 

• Collaborate with product, domain experts, and other engineers across teams to deliver end-to-end solutions 

• Contribute to technical design decisions within your domain, and participate in the full software lifecycle: ideation → design → development → testing → deployment → monitoring 

What you will NOT do 

• This is not a research or modelling role. You implement and integrate optimization and forecasting models rather than developing new theory 

• You are not expected to be a dedicated front-end specialist or a dedicated DevOps specialist. The role spans these areas by design, so depth in every direction isn't the bar 

• A bachelor's degree in an IT-related field 

• Around 5 years of experience in a software engineering role, with demonstrated range across at least two of the following: backend/production systems, cloud infrastructure, front-end, or optimization integration. Versatility across these areas matters more here than deep tenure in a single one 

• You've taken systems into production and kept them running, and can show or talk us through examples (work projects, open source, side projects) 

• Experience with one or more of the following is a significant advantage: Python, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes/CI-CD tooling, SQL, KQL, Linux, and front-end frameworks (e.g., React/TypeScript) 

• You are based in the Netherlands and are available to be in the office two to three days per week  

• Strong problem-solving skills and a willingness to work with complex, unfamiliar systems 

• A passion for creating customer value through high-quality engineering 

• Curiosity, ownership, craftsmanship, and the drive to keep learning 

• Good communication skills, able to explain trade-offs clearly to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders 

• A good vibe: you bring energy to the team and make collaboration genuinely enjoyable, not just effective 

What We Offer You 

💶 Excellent remuneration, competitive and aligned with experience 

🌴 30 days holiday per year, with the option to buy 5 extra at half price  

🏦 Excellent pension contribution  

🎓 €1,000 education budget per year  

⏰ Flexible working hours, and location.  

🍱 On-site canteen (e.g., poke bowl for €2)  

🏋️ Free onsite gym- with personal trainer.  

🎉 A vibrant, open culture where you can be yourself  

🌿 Human- and values-driven work, not corporate bureaucracy  

🍻 Twice-weekly drinks on Thursdays and Fridays