Backend Developer Intern LA (Restaurant OS) — Fully Remote

3 Months · Fully Remote · 32 Hours/Week Preferred

About ZOVU

Restaurants have enough to worry about. Their software shouldn't be one of those things.

At ZOVU, we're building the Operating System for the modern restaurant. Our vision is simple: one connected platform bringing together Point of Sale, reservations, loyalty, staff operations, and the customer experience.

And we're doing things differently.

Instead of charging restaurants expensive monthly subscriptions, our business model is built around transactions. When restaurants grow, we grow with them.

We're an early-stage, fully remote startup preparing for our first restaurant launches. There's already a product in development, a team building it, and plenty of ambitious work ahead.

If you enjoy creating things that people will actually use, you'll feel at home here.

The Role

We're looking for an ambitious Backend Developer Intern to help build the systems behind ZOVU.

This isn't an internship where you'll spend three months watching someone else code.

You'll contribute to real software, develop new functionality, investigate problems, and work alongside our engineering team to bring ZOVU closer to launch.

Your work will help power the technology restaurant owners, staff, and customers interact with every day.

We're not looking for someone who knows every framework. We're looking for someone who knows how to build.

What Excites You

• Building Something from the Ground Up: You enjoy turning ideas into working software and watching a product come together.
• Solving Real Problems: You like figuring out why something doesn't work and finding a better way to build it.
• Taking Ownership: You're excited to take responsibility for your own work rather than wait for instructions at every step.
• Learning Through Experience: You want to grow by contributing to real projects alongside other developers.
• Startup Life: You enjoy an environment where ideas matter, priorities evolve, and your contributions make a difference.

What Excites Us

• Experience That Shows: You've already built backend functionality through internships, freelance work, professional experience, or substantial personal projects.
• Backend Fundamentals: You're comfortable with server-side JavaScript or TypeScript, APIs, and relational databases.
• Practical Problem-Solving: You've encountered technical problems, investigated them, and worked toward reliable solutions.
• Real Ownership: You can clearly explain what you personally built, rather than only describing what your team accomplished.
• Development Practices: You've worked with Git and understand the importance of readable, maintainable code.
• Independence: You can make progress on assigned work, communicate blockers, and ask useful questions when needed.
• Communication: You're comfortable collaborating in English with a remote, international team.

Bonus points: Experience contributing to production software, business applications, or products used by real customers.

We care more about what you've actually built than a long list of technologies on your CV.

Internship Details & Growth

This is a hands-on internship where you'll develop your backend engineering skills through practical work, technical guidance, and collaboration with our engineering team.

• Duration: Three months.
• Location: 100% remote.
• Availability: Approximately 32 hours per week preferred.
• Start Date: As soon as possible. You must be able to start within three months of applying.

The Good Stuff!

• Real Product Experience: Contribute to an actual software platform preparing for its first restaurant launches.
• Meaningful Responsibilities: Work on features that matter, not just practice assignments.
• Direct Access to the Team: Collaborate with developers and receive feedback on your work.
• Room to Grow: Strengthen your skills by facing real development challenges.
• Your Work Matters: Join at an early stage where individual contributions can have a visible impact.

Life at ZOVU

We're a remote team connected by one ambition: making restaurant operations simpler through better technology.

We value people who take initiative, communicate openly, care about their work, and enjoy solving problems together.

You don't need to have every answer. But you should be curious enough to find them.

We're building something ambitious, and we'd love to have people on board who are excited to help make it happen.

Ready to Build With Us?

We'd love to see what you can bring to ZOVU.

Apply through the job posting with your CV or send a mail to Hr@zovuhq.com and the following information:

1. Show us what you've built.

Share one or two backend projects or features you personally developed. Explain your specific contribution and include a GitHub repository, pull request, or project link where available. If your work is private, describe it without sharing confidential information.

2. Tell us about a real challenge.

Describe one technical problem you've personally encountered while building software, what you did to resolve it, and what you learned.

3. Your availability.

Include your earliest start date, hours available per week.

We value concrete examples, genuine experience, and your own words over polished applications.

Let's build something restaurants will depend on.