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Senior Software Engineer, Toast Delivery Services

Toast · Remote · R & D : Engineering : Commerce

Posted Sep 9, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a production incident you led in a system with real-world consequences.

What they are checking: How they act under pressure and what they changed afterward to prevent a repeat.

Tell me about someone you helped become a stronger engineer.

What they are checking: Whether they enable others to succeed, which the posting names as part of the senior role.

What would you do

A driver's app stops sending location for ten minutes mid-delivery. What should the system do, and what should the guest see?

What they are checking: Whether they design honest, graceful behavior when the physical world and the data disagree.

Friday dinner rush doubles your traffic. What did you build ahead of time so the system holds?

What they are checking: Planning for predictable peaks with capacity, backpressure and graceful degradation.

A product manager wants a feature that would make ETAs look better but less accurate. How do you respond?

What they are checking: Whether they protect the honesty the posting stresses about where the food is right now.

About the work

How would you design the system that assigns a driver to a delivery order when drivers come and go and traffic changes by the minute?

What they are checking: Reasoning about real-time matching with imperfect data, where every delay is a person waiting on dinner.

Walk me through how you'd keep the order's location and ETA accurate for both the restaurant and the guest.

What they are checking: Designing a real-time event backbone that handles late, missing or out-of-order updates gracefully.

The posting says correctness is not negotiable for money movement. How do you make sure a refund never happens twice or not at all?

What they are checking: Idempotency, reconciliation and transactional thinking in payment flows where mistakes cost real money.

How would you price a delivery, and how would you test a pricing change safely?

What they are checking: Whether they can reason about pricing inputs and experiment carefully when changes affect restaurants' money.

How do you decide what to log and alert on in a system that coordinates restaurants, drivers and guests?

What they are checking: Observability that catches stuck orders and bad states before customers call to complain.

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by Toast.

Location: Hybrid in Boston/NY preferred; open to remote working US East Coast (EST/EDT) hours. Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy. We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer with the ability and drive to make an impact, not only on their own but by also enabling those around them to succeed. Play a key role in building the product that puts restaurants in control of their own delivery. As a member of the Toast Delivery Services team, you will build the software that turns a tap on a phone into a hot meal at someone's door. Our systems find a driver, price the delivery, and keep everyone honest about where the food is right now. This is software with a physical world attached: the clock is always running, the map is never perfect, and every decision your code makes shows up as a real person waiting on their dinner. A day in the life (Responsibilities) • Design, build, deploy, and maintain highly resilient and scalable systems critical to our customers' success. • Build the real-time backbone that keeps restaurants and guests confident about where an order is and when it will land. • Work with product managers and designers to get money movement right, from delivery pricing through refunds, where correctness is not negotiable. • Tackle scaling challenges and implement robust solutions. • Advocate for best coding practices, raising the bar for yourself, your team, and the company. • Mentor and provide technical guidance to other team members. What you'll need to thrive (Requirements) • Knowledge of Kotlin, Java or another object-oriented language • Experienced with databases (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB) including schema design and optimization. • In-depth understanding of microservices, distributed systems, and enterprise messaging. • Proven track record of delivering reliable services to production. • Comfort with systems where partner APIs, real-world timing, and imperfect data are the normal operating conditions. • The capacity to tackle complex and ambiguous problems , communicate clearly with others to solve the problem, and share knowledge to help the whole team succeed • Driven by real-world customer impact Special Sauce* (Nice to Haves) • Experience with logistics, mapping, or other systems that model the physical world • Background in payments, refunds, or financial reconciliation • Proficient in modern web technologies and UI frameworks (e.g., React, Javascript, TypeScript, REST, GraphQL) &nbsp; AI at Toast At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture. Our Total Rewards Philosophy&nbsp; We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs that help to attract, retain, and motivate the best and brightest people in our industry. Our total rewards package goes beyond great earnings potential and provides the means to a healthy lifestyle with the flexibility to meet Toasters’ changing needs. Learn more about our benefits at&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits" target="_blank" data-stringify-link="https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits . The base salary range for this role is listed below. The starting salary will be determined based on skills, experience, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, our total rewards components include cash compensation (overtime, bonus/commissions if eligible), equity, and benefits. You can learn more about how we align pay with local labor markets in our Geographic Pay Zone Philosophy . Zone A $159,000 &mdash; $254,000 USD Zone B $138,000 &mdash; $221,000 USD Zone C $125,000 &mdash; $200,000 USD How Toast Uses AI in its Hiring Process Throughout the hiring process, our goal is to get to know you. We use AI tools to support our recruiters and interviewers with tasks like note-taking, summarization, and documentation of interviews to ensure they can be fully focused on your conversation. All hiring decisions are made by people. We ask that you complete interviews and assessments on your own, without real-time AI tools, recording, or transcription bots, unless we tell you otherwise in advance. To learn more: https://careers.toasttab.com/ai-in-hiring Our Approach to Hybrid Working We embrace a hybrid work model that fosters in-person collaboration while valuing individual needs. Our goal is to build a strong culture of connection as we work together to empower the hospitality community, regardless of location. Please visit the Locations page on our career site to learn more about our in-office expectations by region:&nbsp; https://careers.toasttab.com/locations-toast People Are the Secret Ingredient in Our Recipe for Success At Toast, our employees are our secret ingredient—when they thrive, we thrive. The restaurant industry brings together people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we value that same breadth at Toast. We strive to build a culture grounded in authenticity, respect, and humility, where every Toaster has a real opportunity to grow, contribute, and do their best work—raising the bar in delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and each other. Apply today! Toast is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive hiring process. As part of this commitment, we strive to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to enable them to access the hiring process. If you need an accommodation to access the job application or interview process, please contact candidateaccommodations@toasttab.com . ------ For roles in the United States, it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

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