Product Engineer (Java) Lead Consultant

Allstate•McCullom Lake, IL

About The Position

At Allstate, great things happen when our people work together to protect families and their belongings from life’s uncertainties. And for more than 90 years, our innovative drive has kept us a step ahead of our customers’ evolving needs. From advocating for seat belts, air bags and graduated driving laws, to being an industry leader in pricing sophistication, telematics, and, more recently, device and identity protection. Job Description We are seeking a backend-focused Product Engineer (Java) Lead Consultant to design, build, and operate reliable backend services using modern engineering practices. This role emphasizes strong backend fundamentals, clear technical communication, and the ability to actively engage in design discussions, understand requirements, and independently execute solutions. In addition to core backend development, this role offers opportunities to contribute to AI‑enabled systems and emerging technologies, including early exploration of agentic workflows, orchestration patterns, and AI‑assisted tooling. While deep AI expertise is not required, candidates should demonstrate curiosity, sound engineering judgment, and an interest in how modern AI patterns can be applied responsibly to real‑world systems. Successful candidates are proactive collaborators who ask clarifying questions, provide meaningful feedback, and consistently follow through on commitments while working closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders. Frontend experience is helpful but not required. The internal job title for this is role is a Software Engineer Lead Consultant.

Requirements

5 years or more of professional experience building backend systems using Java. (or equivalent)
Experience with Spring Boot or similar Java frameworks. (or equivalent)
Knowledge of automated testing, CI/CD practices, and version control.
Familiarity with containerized application deployment.
Understanding of relational databases and SQL. (or equivalent)
Ability to collaborate effectively in a team-based environment.
Ability to communicate technical information clearly in meetings, documentation, and code reviews.

Nice To Haves

Cloud experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure.
Experience supporting production systems.
Exposure to frontend frameworks such as React or Angular.
Experience working in product-driven or consulting-style teams.

Responsibilities

Backend Engineering (Primary Focus)
Design, develop, and maintain Java‑based backend services using Spring Boot or similar frameworks.
Build and integrate API‑driven, service‑to‑service communication patterns, including synchronous and asynchronous interactions.
Design and consume RESTful APIs and event‑based interfaces with attention to reliability, versioning, and backward compatibility.
Focus on system‑to‑system integration, coordination between services, and orchestration over direct data access.
Make thoughtful design decisions with an emphasis on clarity, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
Write clean, testable, and production-ready code using automated testing practices.
Troubleshoot and resolve issues across service boundaries, including application behavior, containerization, and basic networking.
Work with relational databases as needed, with an emphasis on using well‑defined service interfaces rather than tight data coupling.
Platform & Delivery
Contribute to CI/CD pipelines supporting continuous integration and deployment.
Deploy and operate services in containerized environments, including Kubernetes.
Support applications in lower and production environments.
Participate in improving observability, resiliency, and operational practices.
Frontend (Supporting Contribution)
Contribute to frontend code when needed, primarily using React.
Read, debug, and make small enhancements to frontend components.
Collaboration & Communication
Participate in standups, planning sessions, retrospectives, and design discussions.
Communicate technical concepts, design decisions, and tradeoffs clearly.
Ask clarifying questions when requirements or expectations are unclear.
Collaborate through code reviews, pairing, and technical discussions.
AI & Emerging Technologies
Demonstrate interest in modern AI system design and emerging technologies.
Exposure to model orchestration, agent-based workflows, or multi-agent patterns is a plus.
Participate in exploration or prototyping of AI-assisted tools where appropriate.
Stay informed about how AI can enhance developer productivity and product capabilities.