Lead Java Cloud Engineer AWS Microservices

Job Title: Lead Java Cloud Engineer AWS Microservices- (Java / AWS / Cloud-Native Applications)

Work Location: Chicago, IL

Work Model: Remote, but local Chicago-area candidates only

Work Auth: All visas accepted (No H1 and No Fake profile)

Travel: Some travel required

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer with strong expertise in Java, Spring Boot, Microservices, AWS, Distributed Systems, DevOps, and Cloud Architecture.

This role will provide technical leadership and delivery ownership for a team of engineers building and operating scalable, secure, and high-performing cloud-native applications on AWS. The ideal candidate will be hands-on technically while also driving architecture decisions, engineering standards, modernization initiatives, mentoring, and successful delivery across cross-functional teams.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree required
• 10+ years of software engineering experience
• 5+ years of experience in a technical lead / lead engineer role

Required Technical Skills

• Strong experience with Java, preferably recent versions
• Spring Boot
• Microservices architecture
• REST APIs and API integration
• AWS cloud services, including:
  • ECS / Fargate
  • IAM
  • Application Load Balancer (ALB)
  • RDS
  • CloudWatch
  • Secrets Manager
• OpenSearch / Elasticsearch
• Docker
• CI/CD pipelines
• GitHub
• Distributed Systems
• Cloud Architecture
• Observability and monitoring
• DevOps practices
• Infrastructure as Code
• SQL and NoSQL databases
• Event-Driven Architecture
• Performance optimization
• AI-assisted development tools

Key Responsibilities

• Lead software engineers in delivering business-critical cloud applications
• Define and maintain technical direction and architectural standards
• Design scalable solutions using Java, Spring Boot, Microservices, and AWS
• Drive AWS cloud adoption and modernization initiatives
• Ensure solutions meet scalability, performance, security, reliability, and availability requirements
• Provide architecture guidance across application, platform, and cloud layers
• Promote DevOps, automation, CI/CD, and Infrastructure as Code practices
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted development tools to improve engineering productivity
• Support OpenSearch/Elasticsearch-based solutions and observability platforms
• Improve application monitoring, logging, and operational visibility
• Lead technical reviews, code reviews, and design discussions
• Mentor and coach software engineers
• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, Platform, and Infrastructure teams
• Support production incidents, root-cause analysis, and operational excellence
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement across engineering practices and delivery processes
• Drive successful execution of complex cloud-native initiatives

Required Leadership Skills

• Strong technical leadership and decision-making abilities
• Experience mentoring and coaching engineering teams
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Ownership and accountability for technical delivery
• Conflict-resolution skills
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Strong collaboration skills across engineering, product, and architecture teams