Scala API Engineer | Fintech Data Platform | Permanent or Freelance | Brussels / Ghent / Hybrid We're looking for a strong Scala API Engineer to join a fast-growing Belgian fintech scale-up building a data platform used daily by private bankers, investment funds and relationship managers. You'll work on the core of the platform: designing and evolving a scalable, high-performance API architecture. Both permanent employment and freelance setup are possible. What you'll do Develop and improve internal & external APIs (Scala + Play Framework) Optimize performance, scalability and reliability Work with relational databases and ensure efficient data access Elevate API design, versioning, security and documentation standards Collaborate closely with product and data teams to translate features into clean technical solutions What we're looking for Solid experience with Scala (Play Framework is a strong plus) Strong backend mindset with affinity for API architecture Good understanding of relational databases and performant querying Nice to have: AWS (Lambda, API Gateway, RDS) Python (internal tooling / data pipelines) Graph databases (e.g. Neo4j) Experience with Clickhouse or interest in columnar storage Why this role stands out Real technical ownership and architectural impact Product with strong market traction Scale-up environment with short decision lines Flexible hybrid setup (Brussels – Tour & Taxis / Ghent – Wintercircus / remote) This is not a maintenance role — it's a position where you actively shape and scale a core API architecture.