Lead Software Engineer Java/AWS

Role: Lead Software Engineer – Java/AWS

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid – 3 days per week onsite)
Duration: 12 months

Let’s create our future together at The AES Group!

About The AES Group:

The AES Group is a premier technology and engineering consulting company that has been bringing businesses and talent together for over 20 years to deliver innovative solutions that have the greatest positive impact on society. AES has helped over 40 business enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies, engage their customers, empower their employees, and transform their business operations with the power of cloud, data, AI, engineering, and other emerging technologies.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer to provide hands-on technical leadership in designing and developing cloud-native backend applications using Java, Spring Boot, and AWS. This role will lead architecture decisions, build scalable distributed systems, mentor engineers, and establish engineering best practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of cloud-native Java applications on AWS.
• Build scalable microservices using Java, Kotlin, and Spring Boot.
• Design RESTful APIs and event-driven services.
• Architect highly available, fault-tolerant distributed systems.
• Develop asynchronous messaging solutions using Kafka or similar technologies.
• Design cloud infrastructure using AWS-managed services.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and deployment automation.
• Lead architecture discussions, technical design reviews, and code reviews.
• Improve observability through logging, metrics, monitoring, and distributed tracing.
• Troubleshoot production issues and optimize system performance.
• Collaborate with Product Owners, Architects, and engineering teams.
• Mentor engineers and establish development standards.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• Strong experience developing enterprise-scale backend applications.
• Technical leadership or team lead experience preferred.
• Degree not required.

Required Technical Skills

• Advanced Java and/or Kotlin
• AWS cloud architecture
• Spring Boot
• Microservices and distributed systems
• REST APIs, OpenAPI, and Swagger
• SQL and relational databases
• DynamoDB, MongoDB, or Cassandra
• Kafka and event-driven architecture
• CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation
• Cloud-native application development
• Logging, metrics, tracing, and monitoring
• Production support and performance tuning

Preferred Experience

• Highly available distributed system design
• Infrastructure as Code
• Cloud application modernization
• Technical architecture and solution design
• Agile/Scrum development environments

Typical Work Breakdown

• 45–55% hands-on Java/AWS development
• 15–20% production support and troubleshooting
• 15–20% code reviews and technical design
• 5–10% cross-team collaboration
• 5–10% Agile ceremonies and sprint activities

Top Skills

• AWS Cloud Architecture
• Java and Spring Boot
• Microservices and Distributed Systems

Ready to make an impact? Apply now and join us on our journey!