field is preferred. ~10+ years of experience designing and developing software applications in Java, including strong experience with... ...experience leading geographically dispersed teams. ~ Strong backend development…
Engineering & IT · Chicago, IL
Backend Developer jobs in Chicago, IL
Backend developers build the server-side logic, APIs, and data layers that applications run on. The job is designing services that stay correct, fast, and secure as usage grows.
425
Open roles today
$38–$99/hr
Typical pay range
$132k
Median, full-time
6
Fresh in this list
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01
Open backend developer roles
12 shown of 425 · sorted by freshness
$112.71k - $183.14k
digital experience. As a Senior Software Engineer on the Cat Central backend services team, you will help design, build, and maintain the... ...will possess the ability to work independently, design, develop, test and de…
$106.9k - $147k
platforms across the enterprise. This position is ideal for a developer who enjoys working on complex systems, building full-stack applications... ..., TypeScript, and state management frameworksDevelop scalable backend…
$107.53k - $139.15k
center, and collaborativeWhat We Do Our Software Engineers design, develop, deploy, and support high-performance market surveillance... ...distributed systems Strong proficiency in Java and Python for backend development…
Job-ID29203042Reference26-24808Remote100% Remote Description: As a Full Stack Developer Contractor, you will support the Client project team by developing and maintaining both front-end and back-end components of web app…
Engineer to contribute to the design and delivery of scalable backend and platform solutions supporting modern cloud-based applications... ...concepts into reliable implementations.Responsibilities:• Develop and maintain…
$120k - $190k
only considering candidates located in and authorized to work in the United States. JOIN OUR TEAM! Bitovi is looking for a Backend Developer Consultant to join us as we transform technology delivery. We build and operate…
considering candidates located in and authorized to work in the United States. JOIN OUR TEAM! Bitovi is looking for a Backend / Platform Developer Consultant to join us as we transform technology delivery. We build and o…
Java Backend Developer with AWS All IT Solutions United States · Chicago, Illinois Workplace Type — Remote Employment Type — Contract We are currently seeking a qualified Java Backend Developer with AWS to support this e…
care was taken to include all competencies needed to successfully perform in this position. However, for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes, the essential functions of the job may or may not have been describ…
WHO YOU ARE You are a seasoned software developer who is dedicated to your craft; you write code that you are proud of and can hit the ground running. You write beautiful, fast code to a high standard, in a timely and sc…
About the Role We are looking for enthusiastic Backend Developer Interns to join our team remotely for a 3-month internship . This is an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in backend development, work on r…
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What backend developers earn in Chicago
Hourly first — that's how the offer arrives
| Experience | Hourly | Annual, full-time |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $38–$52 | $78k–$108k |
| Mid level | $52–$75 | $108k–$157k |
| Senior | $73–$99 | $151k–$205k |
Adjusted for the Chicago market from national ranges.
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What employers ask for
The skills these listings keep naming
A server language (Java, Go, Python, C#)API design (REST, gRPC)SQL and schema designCaching and queuesAuthentication and securityDistributed systems basicsDocker and CI/CDObservability and logging
04
Interview questions worth rehearsing
With the thing the interviewer is actually listening for
Design an API for a feature like comments or notifications.
Clarify requirements, then cover endpoints, data model, pagination, and error handling. Mentioning versioning and rate limits shows production experience.
How would you find and fix a slow database query?
Walk through reading the query plan, checking indexes, and considering caching or denormalization. Ground it in a query you actually fixed.
How do you keep two services consistent when both need to update data?
Discuss transactions, idempotency, and eventual consistency with outbox or saga patterns. Acknowledge tradeoffs rather than promising perfect consistency.
What do you monitor on a service you own?
Name the basics — latency, error rate, saturation — plus business-level signals. Bonus points for talking about alerts you tuned to reduce noise.
Tell me about a production incident you handled.
Structure it: detection, mitigation, root cause, prevention. Emphasize what changed afterward, not just the firefight.
How do you approach securing an API?
Cover authentication, authorization, input validation, and secrets handling. Naming OWASP-style risks concretely is enough; you are not expected to be a security engineer.
When would you choose a message queue over a direct call?
Talk about decoupling, retries, and absorbing spikes, and be honest about the added complexity of async debugging.
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Resume tips that move the needle
For backend developers specifically — generic advice costs you here
01
State scale where you can: requests per second, data volume, or number of services — it is the fastest way to signal seniority.
02
Name the databases and infrastructure you ran in production, not just languages.
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Describe reliability work — migrations without downtime, incident reduction, test coverage on critical paths.
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If you designed an API others consume, say so and note how many teams or clients depend on it.
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Avoid listing every framework you have touched; two stacks with depth read better than eight without.
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Where this role goes
Typical progression
01
Junior Backend Developer
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Backend Developer
03
Senior Backend Developer
04
Staff Engineer
05
Principal Engineer
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