Staff Software Engineer – DaaS / APIs / MCP

WHO ARE WE Cognism is the leading provider of European B2B data and sales intelligence. Ambitious businesses of every size use our platform to discover, connect, and engage with qualified decision-makers faster and close more deals. Headquartered in London with global offices, Cognism’s contact data and contextual signals are trusted by thousands of revenue teams to eliminate the guesswork from prospecting. About Cognism Cognism is one of Europe's leading B2B Sales Intelligence platforms. Our mission is to help revenue teams find, enrich and engage the right customers through trusted, compliant and high-quality data. As part of our R&D transformation we are investing in a new Warsaw Engineering Hub that will become one of Cognism's two primary technology centres. The Opportunity This is not a traditional Staff Engineer position. You will become one of the founding senior technical leaders responsible for shaping the architecture, engineering standards and technical culture of the Warsaw Hub. You will work on the strategic DaaS, API and MCP platform that enables enterprise customers and AI agents to consume Cognism data at scale. What You Will Own • Technical ownership of critical platform capabilities across multiple engineering teams • Architecture of distributed backend systems supporting APIs, MCP and enterprise integrations • Engineering standards covering code quality, reliability, observability and maintainability • Mentoring Senior Engineers and acting as a technical advisor for Engineering Managers and Product Managers • Driving architectural decisions balancing customer value, scalability and operational simplicity What Success Looks Like After 12 Months • Key platform capabilities delivered to production • Measurable improvements in reliability, scalability and engineering velocity • Architecture decisions documented and adopted across teams • Warsaw Hub recognised for engineering excellence and technical leadership Required Experience • 8+ years building large-scale backend systems • Strong software architecture experience in distributed systems • Hands-on expertise with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) • Experience with event-driven architectures, APIs and microservices • Excellent communication and mentoring skills • Ability to influence without formal authority Preferred Experience • Kafka, Kubernetes, Terraform • Scala, Java, Kotlin or modern TypeScript/Node.js • Observability platforms such as Grafana or Prometheus • AI-assisted software development using Claude, GitHub Copilot or similar tools Why Join Cognism Joining now means becoming part of the founding engineering team building Cognism's Warsaw Hub from the ground up. You will influence technology choices, engineering practices and organisational culture while solving complex data-platform challenges with direct business impact. Our Hiring Process • Recruiter conversation • Hiring Manager interview • Technical architecture interview • System design session • Leadership conversation WHY COGNISM At Cognism, we’re not just building a company - we’re building an inclusive community of brilliant, diverse people who support, challenge, and inspire each other every day . If you’re looking for a place where your work truly makes an impact , you’re in the right spot! Our values aren’t just words on a page—they guide how we work, how we treat each other, and how we grow together. They shape our culture, drive our success, and ensure that everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work. Here’s what we stand for: 🤝 We Own the Outcome Together. 🤓 We Deeply Understand our Customers. 🏆 We Celebrate Impact Wherever It Comes From. At Cognism, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and supportive workp