Kotlin Developer Retail Media (Springboot, Kafka and Java)

Join Albert Heijn Tech as a Kotlin Developer for Retail Media

About the Role
This role sits within the Albert Heijn Tech organization and reports directly to the Engineering Manager Retail Media. As a developer for Retail Media, you play a key role in developing and optimizing in-store (Retail) Media solutions that have a tangible impact on our customers, suppliers (advertisers), and internal teams.

This is how you will reinvent food retail.

• Design, build, and maintain scalable and reliable in-store media solutions using Kotlin and modern backend technologies.
• Translate business and marketing requirements into technical solutions that deliver value for our customers and partners.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, vendors, and stakeholders to ensure seamless integration and delivery of new features.
• Continuously improve our systems by identifying bottlenecks, troubleshooting issues, and implementing best practices for code quality and performance.

The Assignment
You will develop the needs of Albert Heijn Retail Media Services and Albert Heijn Marketing into concrete input for the team, aligning this with the broader product vision. Your goal is to create solutions that are not only valuable but also practical and effective for our businesses. In the dynamic and fast-evolving Retail Media landscape, you will use a wide range of tools and systems to drive the best possible results. You will be responsible for implementing new Retail and Marketing solutions for in-store environments and work on the largest screen network in the Netherlands (9000+ screens). You will collaborate closely with your own team members, as well as with vendors and AH teams to streamline functional and technical setups.

Cross-functional Responsibilities
You ensure successful implementation and integration of digital media solutions (including APIs and Kafka), and the offline booking environment. You will work in tooling and process design and with key third parties such as Vistar, André Media, Zebra, etc.

Your new team and office.
Together with your team, you will work on inspiring projects to accelerate our transition into a hybrid Food & Tech company. We want to leverage data and technology to future-proof food shopping and make healthy food more easily accessible for everyone. At Albert Heijn, you team up with inspiring peers in the data, digital, and tech domains—a community of diverse individuals who share a common goal: to create digital solutions that make (online) shopping simpler and more inspiring. Are you ready to reinvent the way millions of people buy and enjoy their food? We invest heavily in data, digital, and tech—and that includes investing in your career! Our teams work in a hybrid way: both from home and in the office. We are located right next to the train station in Zaandam.

What we offer.
At Albert Heijn we aim to grow, and this is only possible if you grow along with us. As we work together to build our brand and your career, you can count on (based on 40 hours per week):

• An annual salary up to €75k including holiday allowance and a flexible bonus, depending on your experience.
• 45 days of paid leave: 25.5 regular vacation days and 19.5 ADV days.
• Flexible working hours.
• Access to a challenging training curriculum – AH Tech Academy.
• An excellent pension plan where we as an employer contribute 4.5 times more than you as an employee.
• A travel allowance or an NS-business card for commuting to and from Zaandam by train.
• Attractive discounts on various insurance policies.
• 10% staff discount on groceries in all Albert Heijn stores, up to a maximum of €300 per year.
• A free Mijn Albert Heijn Premium membership with many benefits.
• A company laptop and telephone.

The recipe for maximum impact:

Technical skills

• Strong understanding of asynchronous communication patterns (Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar message queues).
• 4–5 years in Java/Kotlin development, with knowledge of Spring Boot and event-driven architecture with tools such as Kafka.
• Solid background in test automation, including end-to-end integration tests (preferably without relying on mock data).
• Familiarity with observability best practices and hands-on experience in monitoring, logging, and alerting.

Soft skills

• Able to facilitate discussions and guide integration decisions, not just write code.
• Proactive attitude, takes initiative, and collaborates effectively across teams and with external partners.
• Strong backbone—stands for technical quality and doesn’t compromise under pressure for quick fixes.

Team culture

• Committed to quality, both in software craftsmanship and in ways of working.
• A “voice raiser”—someone who speaks up when things aren’t right and constructively drives improvement.

"I realized how much impact you can truly have as an individual, working for such a huge international company.”
Robert Němec, Solution Architecture Manager

“The support this company has always offered means the world to me."
Christy Elgee, Manager of Cyber Defense and Operations, Ahold Delhaize USA

“I feel the freedom to show initiative, propose changes and try new things. Having that freedom gave me wings to fly.”

"We need to offer the best digital experience: that's our goal!"
Robert Němec, Solution Architecture Manager

"An endless race we must win"
Christy Elgee, Manager of Cyber Defense and Operations, Ahold Delhaize USA