Backend Engineer

We’re looking for a Mid-level Backend Engineer to join one of our teams working on the core of the Yoto Platform, a collection of serverless API’s, databases and services.

About Yoto

Yoto is a screen-free interactive audio platform for kids. We make carefully connected audio players that kids control, with no microphones, cameras or ads. We have a catalogue of audio that inspires creative play and learning with 1,000+ titles in our card store from top creators, publishers and labels - think Disney, Marvel, Roald Dahl and Universal Music. We also create Yoto Originals like this one.

• Voted the 14th fastest-growing private software technology company in Britain in The Sunday Times 100 Tech 2025; and named the 94th fastest-growing company in Europe in the prestigious FT1000.
• Ranked 9th in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2024; and featured in the Sifted 100 fastest-growing startups across the UK&I by revenue growth.
• Featured in Bloomberg’s 25 UK startups to watch in 2023; and ranked second fastest growing tech company in the UK in the Deloitte Fast50.
• Named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of 2020.
• We’re 180+ employees spread across the UK, US, France, Australia, Canada, Singapore and China.. and growing!

We’re on a mission to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. By creating products that inspire independent play, we help families discover and grow with an inspiring world of audio - and we would like you to help us achieve it!

Yoto’s Platform Team

Backend Engineers are spread across vertically aligned cross-functional teams. We’re looking to add more Backend engineers to:

Player Experience - “we create seamless, enriching experiences that put kids in control, empower families, and unlock new possibilities for content. We are responsible for user-facing Yoto OS features, OS quality in general, and player-centric Platform features.”

Family Engagement - “we help grow Weekly Active Families by making it easy, enjoyable, and rewarding to integrate Yoto into daily life. Our focus is on driving long-term engagement, increasing referrals, and improving subscription adoption.”

Content Discovery - “Our mission is to enable purchasing of content within our mobile apps via a seamless discovery a purchase experience"

> We use the Serverless Framework, Lambda + API Gateway, EventBridge, IoT/MQTT.
> We code using a Node.JS stack - TypeScript and ESM.
> We store out data in MongoDb, DynamoDb, S3.

What you’ll be doing:

• Working in an asynchronous, remote-friendly team environment where team members are likely to be working remotely. Embracing remote-friendly tooling and behaviours
  
• Working with managed environments in AWS.
• Writing, clean, simple and robust code and deploying safely multiple times a day. We test-drive our code and heavily rely on test automation.
  
• Working on systems that can experience up to 20x load increases during peak periods.
  
• Working across a broad domain of systems that cover authentication/authorisation, content search and content distribution
  
• Co-ownership of team responsibilities, such as continuous improvement, CI/CD, code and test quality, and impact of solutions.
  
• Working in a document-first environment. We like to start work with a conversation and a written document. We use design documents when forming solutions and RFC’s to reach decisions.
  
  

What you’ll bring:

• The ability to work independently under guidance. Learning when to take initiative and when to seek support or feedback.
  
• A desire to continuously learn, understand and adapt. We work across a broad domain, at scale, with high peaks and we like to think we manage our tech really well - so there’s plenty to learn at Yoto!
  
• Experience working in a cross-functional team, collaborating closely with different people, skillsets and roles (Other types of Engineers, QA, Product). Being open to different perspectives.
  
• Pride and joy in your work. Observed as good design, code and test quality, reasoned decisions. We give autonomy in this space, but have high expectations.
  
• Expertise in slicing large, broad problems into iteratively deliverable solutions. We deploy daily and avoid big-bang solutions.
  
• An open mind to new technologies and tooling - notably exploring what opportunities or changes in behaviour AI tooling offers.
  
• Nice to have: Event-driven architecture and AWS managed services; IoT devices and communication using MQTT; Authentication/Authorisation (security, access management and controls).

Salary: £60,000 - £70,000 based on experience. We never want to miss out on great candidates, so don’t let our banding put you off reaching out - there’s sometimes flexibility for the right fit!

What you can expect from Yoto:

• Flexibility: Hybrid working with a choice based approach - we would love you to come into the office as much as possible, with a minimum of once or twice a month, ideally once a week. Take advantage of our ‘work from anywhere’ policy to work from a different location for up to 6 weeks every year. Summer Hours policy to use between the months of June and August.
• Financial: Generous share option programme so you’ll be invested in Yoto’s success. Receive Income Protection, covering long term sickness for up to 2 years and company sick pay that increases with length of service. Life Assurance cover from day one of your service. Workplace Pension offering up to to 3% employer contributions, following probation. Generous employee referral bonus scheme.
• Health & Wellness: Private Medical Insurance via Aviva, or a Wellbeing Allowance to be used for memberships, subscriptions, treatment or therapy. Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through WeCare and unlimited access to Dental advice and guidance via Toothfairy. Bike to work scheme to promote healthier lifestyles.
• Time Off: 25 days of holiday per year, plus bank holidays. On top of this, you also receive your birthday off, plus 1 extra day of holiday for every year worked after you hit your 2 year anniversary, up to 5 extra days. After 4 years of service, you are also eligible for our sabbatical policy offering up to 3 months' of unpaid sabbatical.
• Helping Families: Variety of family-friendly leave, including enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption, fertility, pregnancy loss and carers leave. Unlock savings with our workplace nursery scheme, designed to support parents of preschool-aged children.
• People & Planet: Up to 2 volunteer days a year. A Book Allowance of up to £50 a year to contribute to your professional development.
• Fun Perks: You receive your very own Yoto player and starter pack of cards! Regular company socials and celebrations, including our annual YotoFest!

Equity and Diversity

At Yoto, we love creating a world where childhood is rich with discovery and joy. We’re also passionate about building a workplace where everyone can thrive - both professionally and personally. We value flexibility and give our team the freedom to balance life and work in ways that suit them.

We're committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, feel valued and supported. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group holds bi-monthly forums to elevate diverse voices and perspectives, ensuring everyone at Yoto feels heard, respected, and appreciated.

We don’t just embrace differences - we celebrate them. We share audio content from a vibrant and diverse community of creators (check out our DEI selection), and we are building a team that reflects that same diversity. We invite candidates from all walks of life to explore opportunities with us and join a company that champions flexibility, equity, and inclusion. Take a look at our website for more information on our approach to People and Planet.

Please only apply or engage with Yoto jobs posted on our careers page (careers.yotoplay.com or careers.yotoplay.com/en). All correspondence from our Talent team will only come through Teamtailor, our application tracking system.