Junior Software Engineer
Junior · Hybrid, Boston Area
About DirectBooker
DirectBooker exists to enable every hotel to take advantage of the benefits OTAs have had for the last 20 years. Online travel agencies and other aggregators built their dominant position on structural advantages independent hotels and even global hotel brands can't access. We're an aggregator that works for hotels. We bring together prices and content for about a million properties from major global hotel chains and connectivity providers, and every booking goes to the hotel's direct channels. Travelers get the direct rate and keep their loyalty points and perks. Hotels keep the guest relationship and the margin.
We put direct prices wherever travelers look:
AI assistants. We're live in Claude and ChatGPT, and we're working to become the default source of hotel prices, and to earn high-volume placements, across the major AI platforms.
Maps, marketplaces and partner programs. Supplying direct prices to maps, regulated marketplace placements, destination tools and card programs.
Performance marketing. Running search advertising on behalf of hotels.
Our own website, for travelers who want to book direct.
AI agents will soon handle much of travel shopping, which makes these advantages even more valuable, and how hotels show up there is being decided now.
We're a small team with deep roots in travel search. Our founders and board members built hotel search at Tripadvisor and Google, so we know from the inside how aggregators win, and we're running that playbook for hotels rather than against them. Join us now and you'll help build the tools that shape how AI and travel come together.
How we work
We're friendly, open and direct, and we work hard. A few things matter to us:
Own it, all the way to production. You run your work end to end: design, build, merge, deploy and keep it healthy. Done means it's running in production, not waiting in a branch. Keep your pull requests moving and your tickets current so anyone can see where things stand.
Do what you say. We trust each other to deliver. When a plan or a date needs to change, you say so early.
Ask early, ask often. Nobody here is too busy for a question. Raising a blocker on day one beats discovering it on day five. Over-communicating is the better mistake.
Review well, and take feedback well. Good reviews go beyond style to design: is this the right approach? When feedback comes your way, take it in and use it. With AI writing more of our code, careful review matters more than ever.
Share what you know. No part of the system should live in one person's head. We review designs together and write things down, and experienced engineers teach the parts of the system only they know.
Fix what's broken. If you see something that's slow, confusing or wrong, you're expected to say so, and usually to fix it. That includes how we work, not just the code.
Go where you're needed. Priorities shift fast in AI, and they will shift here. Expect things to change, and be ready to pick up work outside your lane when the team needs it.
Write code with AI. We expect you to aggressively use and experiment with AI coding tools for most of your work: writing code and tests, exploring unfamiliar parts of the system, and moving faster than you could alone. Keep experimenting as the tools get better.
Own every line you ship. Whether you wrote it or an AI did, the code is yours. Read and understand everything before you open a pull request, review AI output as rigorously as you'd review a teammate's, test it properly, and be ready to explain any line.
The role
You'll ship real features to production in your first weeks, alongside senior engineers who want to teach. Most of your work will be in our backend services and data systems, with some frontend and tooling when the team needs it. The team is small and the problems are real, so you'll grow fast.
What you'll do
Deliver scoped work reliably. Take well-defined tasks and finish them dependably. Over time, take on bigger and less defined work.
Finish what you start, all the way to production. Merge and deploy your features, bug fixes and tech-debt cleanups.
Raise blockers early. This matters a lot. At this stage, over-communicating is the right mistake to make.
Learn fast and use feedback. Act on review comments, build fluency in the codebase, and cut down rework. Lean on your mentors: ask, pair and review together.
Keep good habits. Merge promptly after approval and keep your Jira tickets linked and current.
Where this goes
The path to mid-level is more autonomy: owning a small feature end to end with less scaffolding.
What we're looking for
0–3 years of professional experience, or equivalent from internships, open source or serious personal projects.
Solid programming fundamentals and some backend experience. Exposure to Rust is a plus, not a requirement.
Curiosity about AI and how assistants like Claude and ChatGPT are changing how people search and book.
Comfortable saying "I don't know yet" and going to find out.
Comfortable using AI coding tools, and committed to understanding every line they write for you before you ship it. They should speed up your learning, not replace it.
Nice to have
Interest or experience in travel, hotels or marketplaces.
Something you've built and shipped that you can walk us through.
Benefits and logistics
Compensation: Base salary plus early-stage equity (stock options). As a seed-stage company, our compensation is below big-tech levels, with the upside that comes from owning a piece of what we're building. Offers are based on experience.
Health: Company-subsidized medical, dental and vision plans for you and your eligible dependents. Employee assistance program (EAP) and pre-tax flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care.
Time off: 15 days of PTO a year to start, rising to 20 days after three years.
Hybrid work: 2-3 days per week in our office.
Location and work authorization: You must be based in Massachusetts and authorized to work in the US. We aren't able to sponsor visas at this time.
Equipment and tools: Company laptop, plus software development tools.
How to apply: Apply through our application form. Pick the role or roles you're interested in, attach your CV, and tell us about something you've built or fixed that you're proud of. A short note beats a long cover letter.
DirectBooker is an equal opportunity employer. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds.