Senior Software Engineer - Payroll Foundation - Munich/London - (d/f/m)

Personio's intelligent HR platform helps small and medium-sized organizations unlock the power of people by making complicated, time-consuming tasks simple and efficient. Our team of 1,500 Personios is building user-friendly products that delight our 15,000+ customers and their 1.5 million employees. Ready to make an impact from day one?
Senior Backend Engineer (L5)
Payroll Foundations Team Location: Munich (preferred) or London
 
The Role
At Personio, we’re on a mission to help millions of people have a better work life. Our People Operating System empowers organisations across Europe to manage HR, payroll, and employee experience in one place.
As a Senior Backend Engineer , you will join the Payroll Foundations team , the group responsible for the core systems that power Personio Payroll. These systems ensure employees are paid accurately, payroll processes run reliably, and critical payroll outputs such as payslips and reporting documents are generated at the right time.
You will work on the backend infrastructure that sits at the heart of payroll processing, solving complex problems around correctness, reliability, and performance at scale.
This role offers the opportunity to work on high-impact systems where quality, accuracy, and engineering excellence directly affect thousands of employees being paid correctly every month.
 
What You’ll Do
Build and maintain backend systems that power payroll processing pipelines

Design and improve services responsible for payroll calculations and processing workflows

Ensure payroll data is processed accurately and reliably across the platform

Work on systems responsible for generating payslips and payroll reporting outputs

Improve reliability, performance, and maintainability of payroll backend services

Collaborate with product managers and engineers across payroll teams

Contribute to technical decisions and architectural improvements within the payroll domain

What We’re Looking For
Strong experience building backend systems in production environments

Experience working with distributed systems or large-scale backend services

Strong programming experience in languages such as Kotlin/Java, or similar

Experience designing reliable services with high correctness requirements

Ability to work in a collaborative engineering environment

Strong problem-solving and debugging skills

AI Fluency: You have hands-on experience using AI to improve your workflow, and the sound judgment to know exactly when to rely on it and when to step in yourself.

Nice to have:
Experience in fintech, payroll, or other regulated domains

Familiarity with systems where accuracy and compliance are critical

Why Personio
Personio is an equal opportunities employer, committed to building an inclusive and values-driven culture.
This role requires 2 days per week in office . The remaining days can be worked from home, plus 20 Flex Days per year to work remotely from other locations.
You’ll also benefit from:
Competitive salary, benefits, and pre-IPO equity

28 days paid holiday, plus extra days after 2 and 4 years

One fully paid Impact Day per year

Family leave, mental health support, and sabbatical options

Regular team events, office snacks, drinks, and weekly catered lunches