Chief Development Lead

Job Description:

Chief Development Lead (Java Tech Lead.)

Location: Full-time, must be on-site M-F in McLean, VA 22102

Duration: 6 Months (Temp to hire)

Requirements:-

• Design the overall technological design of the product with the help of the teams and BU Architect.
• Ensure technical detailed design is compliant with the Architecture decision and bring to the attention of the architect if the product team cannot be in compliance for any reason.
• Responsible for High Level design document, sequence diagrams,
• Guide Agile teams on technology strategy related to coding practices, continuous integration, and automated deployment.
• Responsible for technical design and infrastructure / environments strategy, including deployments, ensuring that these are kept in-line with product roadmap and with MVP mindset.
• Work with the team to help empower and provide the right tools to deliver sprint goals.
• Mentor and coach the technical team including Dev Leads, specifically with code quality when needed.
• Identify and remove technical impediments.
• Work with the Chief Product Owner to align the roadmap with strengths and opportunities within the technical stack.
• Constantly look for better ways of solving technical problems and designing the solution, not afraid to challenge the status quo.
• Provide the teams a roadmap for implementing software engineering practices.
• Share responsibility with Chief Product Owner for building reusable and scalable components.
• Provide transparency to Dev Leads and Architecture for evolving priority and design changes.

More Details/Managers Call Notes:-

This leadership role will sit on top of 5 6 development leads, each overseeing specific functional areas within the business processes, such as underwriting and servicing etc. The Chief Development Lead will be responsible for the entire software delivery lifecycle from local development through to production deployment and operational oversight. They will drive the strategic engineering vision, define the technical direction, and determine the tools and technologies to be used across the teams. The role also includes vendor management and close collaboration with business stakeholders.

This is a role that goes beyond task management the ideal candidate sees the bigger picture across the clients department, bringing in the right tools and technology to optimize performance, reduce costs, and drive efficiency. They will lead at the PoC level, with a strong technical background to guide decisions and dictate the use of appropriate technologies. While hands-on coding is not expected day-to-day, they must bring the feasibility mindset, understand how to build things the right way, and ensure teams follow strong development practices.

Java is the core backend technology, so a strong foundation in Java (Spring Boot, microservices) is essential. Hands on experience with Angular and Python is required, while familiarity with .NET is a nice-to-have but not required but it's preferred if they have some understanding of basic .NET as well. On the data side, the environment includes MongoDB for NoSQL and PostgreSQL for relational storage. On the cloud side, AWS is the chosen platform, selected over Google Cloud Platform or Azure. Although native AWS services are not deeply used, foundational knowledge (S3, EKS for Kubernetes orchestration) is important.

The front-end is built using Angular, they should know the basic integration between UI and backend services. The role requires understanding how different pieces connect both technically and organizationally with projects often funded in block flows, where one initiative feeds into another. The Chief Development Lead must be integrated with stakeholders, capable of communicating effectively, solving business problems through smart technology choices, and overseeing secure, scalable solutions.