SDE-3 (SIQ)

Job Title: Software Development Engineer - 3

Location: Bangalore (On-site; full-time)

About Locus

Battle-tested in 350+ deployments across 30+ countries, Locus is an agentic Transportation Management System for all-mile, all-channel, trusted by enterprises like Unilever, Nestlé, and Siam Makro.

The platform unifies orders, capacity, and carrier networks into one living plan, aligning planning, execution, and settlement so promises become proof. AI co-pilots with guardrails surface risk early and recommend the next best move to protect SLAs and reduce empty miles.

In 2025, Locus joined the Ingka Group (IKEA Retail) family, marking a major milestone in our journey. Backed by the scale and strength of IKEA, we continue to operate independently while accelerating our mission to make global supply chains faster, smarter, and more sustainable.

Our Journey and Impact

Since 2015, Locus has been on a mission to make logistics decision-making intelligent, sustainable, and real-world ready. Our platform has powered billions of deliveries across 30+ countries for global enterprises, driving measurable impact in cost savings, carbon reduction, and SLA performance. With the strength of the IKEA ecosystem behind us, we’re scaling that impact even further.

Our Global Footprint

Headquartered in Bangalore, with teams across the U.S., U.K., UAE, and Southeast Asia, Locus brings together 170 + engineers, designers, and problem-solvers united by a single goal: to reinvent how the world moves goods.

Traits We Value

We look for people who are:

• Global in mindset: curious about diverse markets and ideas.
• Unrelenting in drive: energized by complex challenges.
• Intelligent in approach: analytical, creative, and thoughtful.
• Dynamic in execution: adaptive and decisive in fast-moving contexts.
• Exact in craft: detail-oriented and committed to excellence.
  
  
  

Why This Role Exists

Enterprise logistics is messy. Every client’s supply chain runs on different constraints, different data, and a different definition of what “good” looks like. A great product alone doesn’t fix that. Someone has to sit with the client, earn their trust, and make the technology work in their environment – not in a demo environment.

SDEs at Locus don’t feed a roadmap. They own the outcome of a client’s deployment – from the first architecture conversation to the day the system is live and moving real trucks. If you’re the kind of engineer who gets restless building things no one uses, and you’d rather see your code cut costs and protect SLAs for a Fortune 500 shipper, this is the role.

What You Will Do

Think of this as a startup CTO role, embedded inside a client’s operation. You work in a small team with high autonomy and full accountability for delivery.

Own the Client’s Outcome

• Embed with enterprise customers – on-site and remotely – to understand their supply chain operations, data estate, and what success actually looks like for their business.
• Scope and design technical solutions for messy, real-world logistics problems – with a clear line to measurable impact: cost per delivery, SLA performance, empty kilometres.
• Own the full deployment lifecycle: architecture through go-live through steady-state. You’re accountable for the outcome, not just the code.
  
  
  

Build and Ship

• Design, build, and maintain backend services in Node.js or Python that power routing, planning, and execution at enterprise scale.
• Build and own the integrations connecting Locus to client ERPs, TMS, WMS, and OMS platforms – these integrations are often the riskiest part of a deployment.
• Write production code that runs under real load. If it isn’t in production, it hasn’t shipped.
  
  
  

Be the Technical Interface with the Client

• Run architecture reviews, lead integration workshops, and represent Locus in executive steering meetings. You need to be credible at every level of the client organisation.
• Bring field learnings back into the product and platform teams. Some of Locus’s best features started as a client workaround.
• Push back when a client request would compromise platform integrity – and propose a better alternative.
  
  
  

Make the Next Deployment Easier

• Document architecture decisions, integration patterns, and deployment playbooks – every engagement should make the next one faster.
• Work closely with Product, Customer Success, and Platform Engineering. Share what you’re seeing in the field; don’t wait to be asked.
• Mentor junior members and raise the technical bar across the team.
  
  
  

Who You Are

We’re not looking for a backend engineer who will also talk to customers. We’re looking for someone who is genuinely energised by deploying technology into difficult, real-world environments – and who measures themselves by whether the client’s operation improved.

Experience

• 6–8 years of backend engineering, in backend development, Client Integration
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Problem- Solving Skills: Strong analytical skills and a passion for tracking challenging technical problems.
• Team Player: Ability to collaborate effectively in a team-oriented environment and contribute to the success of the organization.
• Ownership: Demonstrated ability to take ownership of projects and deliver high-quality results.
  
  
  

Technical Depth

• Solid understanding of distributed systems and microservices – you can reason about failure modes, not just happy paths.
• Hands-on with relational and NoSQL databases; you make data-modelling trade-offs deliberately, not by default.
• Experience with event streaming or message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ).
• Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerised deployments (Docker, Kubernetes).
• A track record of shipping production systems in Node.js or Python for enterprise customers.
• Comfortable with CI/CD pipelines and production observability – you know what’s happening in your systems after you deploy.
  
  
  

What We Actually Care About

• Outcome over output: you measure yourself by cost saved and SLAs hit, not by pull requests merged.
• Comfort with ambiguity: client problems don’t arrive as clean tickets. You make progress when the spec is “we need this working by Thursday.”
• Communication range: you can walk a CTO through a system design and explain the same decision to a dispatch manager – same day, different language.
• Bias to action: you fix things without waiting for permission. You escalate early, not after the fact.
• Travel appetite: you’re energised by client-site work, not just willing to tolerate it.
  
  
  

Nice to Have

• Background in logistics, supply chain, or transportation management.
• Experience integrating AI/ML or LLM-based workflows into enterprise systems.
• Familiarity with geospatial data, routing algorithms, or optimisation engines.
  
  
  

What We Offer

Join Locus and become part of a visionary team that is redefining logistics through innovation and smart distribution. We provide competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and a collaborative environment where your expertise will drive both your growth and that of the organization.

Locus is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.