Application Guide

How to Apply for Senior Software Engineer (IoT)

at Bird

🏢 About Bird

Bird is revolutionizing urban transportation with eco-friendly, dockless electric scooters, focusing on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. The company stands out for its mission-driven approach to solving real-world mobility challenges while leveraging cutting-edge IoT technology. Working at Bird offers the opportunity to impact millions of users globally while contributing to environmental sustainability.

About This Role

As a Senior Software Engineer (IoT) at Bird, you'll design and develop scalable systems supporting business growth, with quarterly delivery of major features or enhancements. This role is impactful because you'll ensure system reliability for thousands of IoT devices (scooters) while mentoring junior engineers and optimizing CI/CD pipelines. Your work directly enables reliable urban transportation for users worldwide.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day involves collaborating with cross-functional teams on IoT system enhancements, reviewing code from junior engineers, and monitoring system health using observability tools. You might design scalable features for scooter management, optimize Kubernetes deployments, and troubleshoot real-time data pipeline issues using Kafka while ensuring system reliability across Bird's global fleet.

🚀 Application Tools

Generate Cover Letter

AI-powered, tailored for Bird

Interview Prep

Practice questions for this role

🎯 Who Bird Is Looking For

  • 10+ years of professional experience with strong proficiency in Golang, JVM-based languages (Java/Kotlin/Scala), Kubernetes, and AWS
  • Deep experience with IoT devices, real-time data pipelines, distributed systems, microservices, and Kafka for handling scooter telemetry data
  • Proven track record with CI/CD pipelines, automation tools, and observability tools like Datadog or Grafana for system monitoring
  • Experience mentoring junior engineers through code reviews and technical guidance in a fast-paced IoT environment

📝 Tips for Applying to Bird

1

Highlight specific IoT experience with real-time device data, especially if related to transportation, mobility, or connected hardware

2

Quantify your impact on system reliability metrics (e.g., 'reduced downtime by X%' or 'improved deployment frequency by Y')

3

Showcase projects where you scaled systems to handle growth, specifically mentioning technologies like Kafka, Kubernetes, and AWS

4

Demonstrate your mentoring experience with concrete examples of how you've guided junior engineers in technical decisions

5

Tailor your resume to emphasize both technical depth in required stack (Golang/JVM/K8s) and breadth across IoT, microservices, and observability

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

["Your passion for Bird's mission of sustainable urban transportation and how your IoT experience aligns with their scooter technology", 'Specific examples of designing scalable systems for business growth, particularly quarterly feature delivery in fast-paced environments', 'Experience with both technical leadership (mentoring) and hands-on system reliability improvements for IoT devices', "How you've optimized CI/CD pipelines and automation in previous roles to increase engineering efficiency"]

Generate Cover Letter →

🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Bird's specific IoT architecture and how they manage scooter connectivity, location tracking, and battery management
  • → The company's growth trajectory, funding rounds, and expansion into new markets to understand scaling challenges
  • → Bird's sustainability initiatives and environmental impact metrics to align with their mission
  • → Technical blog posts or engineering talks from Bird team members about their system architecture

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Designing scalable systems for IoT device management and real-time data processing from thousands of electric scooters
2 System reliability strategies for minimizing downtime in a distributed microservices architecture using Kubernetes and AWS
3 Hands-on coding challenges in Golang or JVM languages for backend services handling scooter telemetry
4 Approaches to mentoring junior engineers and improving team processes through code reviews and knowledge sharing
5 Experience with Kafka for real-time data pipelines and observability tools (Datadog/Grafana) for monitoring system health
Practice Interview Questions →

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Applying without specific IoT or real-time data pipeline experience when these are core requirements
  • Generic resume that doesn't highlight the required tech stack (Golang, JVM languages, Kubernetes, AWS, Kafka)
  • Focusing only on individual coding skills without demonstrating mentoring experience or system reliability improvements

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Bird!

← Back to Job Listing Apply Now →