Job Title: Senior Java Backend Lead
Location: Chicago, IL
Work Model: Hybrid (Currently 2 Days/Week Onsite; Subject to Increased Office Presence)
Employment Type: Contract (W2 Only)
Duration: 13 Months
Position Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Java Backend Lead to design, develop, and support enterprise-grade software solutions. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in Java backend development, cloud technologies, distributed systems, and team leadership. This role requires hands-on development, architectural contribution, mentoring responsibilities, and production support ownership within a fast-paced enterprise environment.
Required Education
- Bachelor''s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
Required Experience
- 10+ years of experience designing, developing, and maintaining enterprise software applications using Java.
- 3+ years of experience leading geographically distributed development teams.
- Proven experience delivering highly available, scalable, and reliable backend solutions.
- Experience participating in application architecture and technical design decisions.
Required Technical Skills
Backend Development
- Strong expertise in Java 17.
- Extensive backend application development experience.
- Strong experience building and consuming RESTful Web Services.
- Experience designing scalable and maintainable microservices-based applications.
Cloud & AWS
Hands-on experience with AWS services including:
- IAM
- Kinesis
- DynamoDB
- API Gateway/API Stack
- SQS
- SNS
- KMS
Database Technologies
- PostgreSQL or other relational database platforms.
- Database design, optimization, and performance tuning experience.
DevOps & Reliability
- DevOps practices and CI/CD methodologies.
- Experience supporting highly available and fault-tolerant systems.
- Production deployment and operational support experience.
- Monitoring, troubleshooting, and incident management expertise.
Architecture
- Experience contributing to application architecture and solution design.
- Understanding of enterprise integration patterns and scalable system design.
Preferred Skills
- Python development experience.
- Cloud-native application development.
- Distributed event-driven architectures.
- Performance tuning and optimization.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, enhance, and maintain enterprise-scale backend applications using Java 17.
- Lead development efforts for complex software systems and business-critical applications.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to development teams.
- Guide geographically dispersed teams through project execution and delivery.
- Drive development initiatives focused on delivering high-value business features.
- Participate in architecture reviews, technical evaluations, and solution recommendations.
- Establish and maintain software development best practices, coding standards, and quality processes.
- Lead troubleshooting, debugging, and resolution of complex technical issues.
- Coordinate production support activities, incident management, and stakeholder communications.
- Perform integration testing and support customer acceptance testing activities.
- Collaborate with business users, stakeholders, architects, and cross-functional teams.
- Promote reusable enterprise-wide solutions and technical standards.
- Identify opportunities for continuous improvement across systems, processes, and team capabilities.
- Mentor junior developers and support career development initiatives.
Required Soft Skills
- Strong leadership and team collaboration abilities.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure and tight deadlines.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking skills.
- Passion for technology and continuous learning.
- Experience mentoring and coaching junior engineers.
- Ability to coordinate incident resolution and production support activities.
- Strong organizational and prioritization skills.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a hands-on Java Backend Technical Lead with extensive experience building enterprise applications in AWS environments. They combine deep technical expertise with leadership capabilities, architecture exposure, production support ownership, and a strong commitment to delivering reliable, scalable, and high-quality software solutions.
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