Senior Backend Engineer

Remote OK - Worldwide
Full-time
January 12, 2023

Are You Looking…

To make a difference at the fastest-growing tech company in Japan?
For a fair working environment where anyone regardless of their background can make an impact
To invest yourself and take ownership of your work
Forward to work in a highly flexible, remote-first organization
To simply have a ton of fun?

We Are Zeals

A communication tech company based out of Tokyo, Japan. We are a group of scrappy and hungry bunch from different walks of life, looking to make an actual impact on the way people and businesses communicate through our AI Chatbot technology. We obsess over bringing hospitality to everyone--be it our customers or you! You’re an individual with unique needs. As an employer we are ready to roll-up our sleeves and change the status quo if it means to make your experience better!

Everyone matters here at Zeals--regardless of their background. Be it a young coding prodigy (Yes, our CTO just turned 23) to someone who hardly speaks Japanese. Everyone has a voice. We went from a small, humble apartment to a 300 people organization across multiple time zones (with no sign of stopping) in the span of 7 years--all that thanks to our members’ contributions. So, if you join us, get ready to raise up your voice and spend your time contributing to projects that matter!

Our last 2 years have been phenomenal and we are still growing (with so much untapped potential). While we can’t attract you with ping-pong tables or all-you-can-drink espresso bars. We can promise you full flexibility on your workstyle and co-workers that you can brag about to your friends, family or anyone you meet the next time you go out for a party!

Responsibilities

Development with a focus on Clean Architecture of new services in Golang, using REST and gRPC interfaces.
Ability to read and understand Python and Ruby code.
Migrate legacy interfaces (sp: written in Python, Ruby) align DDD architecture while documenting API specification, data flow.
Managing a team of engineers and mentor and guide them for next level.

Must have

Proficiency in development flow based on git and GitHub.
3+ years of experience in Software Engineering or a similar role.
2+ years of experience in development using Golang.
Strong sense of testing including unit test and integration test.
Ability to communicate recommendations for improvements on current systems, processes, and services as needed.
Exhibit a strong ability to adapt in a dynamic and ever-changing environment.
Ability to solve problems, especially to identify the source of the problem, and create and test solutions.

Should have

Working knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and Clean Architecture.
Working knowledge of gRPC and RESTful API.
Working knowledge of RDB and SQL.
Experience in Google Cloud Platform.
Experience in Continuous Integration tools like CircleCI.
Experience in issue management systems like Jira.

Nice to have

Experience in graph databases like DGraph.
Experience in document databases like MongoDB.
Experience in development using Python, Ruby, NodeJS.
Communicate in Japanese.

Our Values

From Zeals good things come from giving your all.
Bet on Paradox be a maverick and never settle for just good enough.
United Will teamwork is the heart to every achievement.

What We Can Give You in Return

Salary Range : negotiable
Bonus : twice
Performance review: twice a year
Holidays: 10 days paid holidays during the first year, weekends off, national holidays, summer and winter break.

APPLY NOW ➜

About ZEALS

Build AI that Brings Japanese Omotenashi to the World

ZEALS is an AI company building intelligent products inspired by the Japanese concept of Omotenashi—anticipating people's needs and delivering exceptional experiences. What began as Japan's leading conversational commerce platform has evolved into an AI-native company developing products across autonomous AI agents and robotics.

Today, ZEALS operates three core businesses:

ZEALS AI Engagement, helping enterprise companies deliver personalized customer experiences through AI.
Omakase.ai, a platform for building autonomous AI agents capable of understanding, communicating, and taking action across voice and chat.
Omakase Robotics, developing a robot-agnostic AI operating system that enables robots to work naturally alongside people in real-world environments.

Together, these businesses share a single mission: creating AI that understands people, acts autonomously, and brings the spirit of Japanese hospitality to both digital and physical experiences.

From Market Leader to AI Pioneer

ZEALS established itself as the market leader in conversational commerce in Japan, working with hundreds of enterprise customers across industries including retail, beauty, travel, finance, and automotive.

Building on years of experience designing AI-powered customer interactions, the company has expanded into generative AI and embodied AI. Omakase.ai quickly gained international recognition after launching as the #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt, with thousands of AI agents created by users within its first months. Meanwhile, Omakase Robotics is applying the same AI capabilities to the physical world, developing software that enables robots to perform meaningful work in human environments.

With teams spanning AI, machine learning, cloud infrastructure, robotics, and product engineering, ZEALS continues to invest aggressively in technologies that shape the future of intelligent systems.

Building the Future of AI

Rather than treating AI as a feature, ZEALS builds products where AI is the core technology. Engineers work across a wide range of challenging technical domains, including:

Autonomous AI agents
Voice AI and multimodal interaction
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Distributed cloud infrastructure
Robotics software
Computer vision
Real-time systems

Small, highly autonomous teams own products end-to-end, from research and prototyping to deployment and continuous iteration. Engineers collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and AI researchers to rapidly ship new capabilities and solve real-world customer problems.

A Place to Grow

ZEALS has built a culture around ownership, rapid learning, and continuous experimentation. Employees are encouraged to challenge assumptions, move quickly, and take responsibility for delivering meaningful outcomes. The company also supports collaboration beyond day-to-day work through cross-functional lunches, club activities, social events, and opportunities to connect across teams.

Japanese Language Policy
At ZEALS, the product and technology team members primarily speak English (dev-related discussions happen in English on Github or Slack). There might be occasional discussions in Japanese, but most Slack messages are in English (or both languages).

As for meetings, all dev-related discussions take place in English. Given the above, Japanese skills are not required for most positions in the Product & Technology departments. However, one unique aspect of ZEALS’ culture is the desire to increase teamwork and engage with each other, which is why many Japanese members are working on their English skills while many non-Japanese members also work to improve their Japanese skills.

In order to build a truly global team, ZEALS has many multilingual members that proactively support the rest of the team to ensure smooth communications.

Even outside of the Product & Technology departments, all important company-wide announcements are made in both English and Japanese. For example, hiring announcements, new product launches etc. are generally announced in both Japanese and English.

Also, simultaneous interpretation for presentations at large meetings and events is provided to ensure that everyone gets the information they need.
Paid Leave
- All Japanese public holidays off
- 10 days of PTO (awarded 3 months after joining) in the first year
- 5 refreshment leave days per year
- Summer Holidays, Year-end Holidays, Childcare Leave, Congratulations/Bereavement Leave
Benefits
Here are some examples of the benefits which full-time employees can receive:

💻 Loaned Laptops

🇯🇵 Translation Support (EN<>JP)

👶 Shorter Work Hours for Employees Taking Care of Children

👶 Parental Leave

👕 Flexible Dress Code

💜 Social Security / Insurance Benefits Included

🏥 Healthcare Insurance, Periodic Health Checks

💚 Pension Insurance

🚃 Commuter Reimbursement
Remote Work
Although ZEALS requires you to either be in or relocate to Japan, once you’re here, you can choose whether you work from home or in the office.
- Full-time employees in Japan can work from home or come to the office. Transportation reimbursement to and from the office is available and people living close to the office can receive a housing allowance.
- If you’re not based in Japan yet, you can work from overseas while we help you obtain a Japanese working visa.
- Work from your home country 2 months per year.
Work style
ZEALS is flexible when it comes to working hours. They have core time from 1:00pm to 3:00pm JST, but otherwise you’re free to set up your day however you want to meet the monthly working hour requirements.
Values

FROM ZEAL

< Passion >
Good things come from giving it your all

BET ON PARADOX

< Unorthodox >
Never settle for the established norm

UNITED WILL

< Team >
Teamwork is the heart of achievement

Office

The ZEALS office is in the heart of Tokyo, situated in Meguro, near Gajoen, a famous hotel known for hospitality. You can work from the office at a desk as well as use small booths or meeting rooms. You can hook your laptop to large screens and sit in Ergohuman chairs. Lounge areas and standing tables are also available. Everyone is free to choose the work style that works best for them, either full-remote or in the office.