Senior Java Developer - Performance Engineering

Hard Rock Digital•United States, FL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Hard Rock Digital is seeking a Senior Java Developer to join their Performance Engineering team. The role involves taking ownership of expanding load testing capabilities, specifically by implementing Gatling as a new tool alongside existing ones like Locust and k6. This position requires a blend of hands-on development and technical mentorship, aiming to improve Java skills and development practices within the team. The role is highly visible and suited for individuals who enjoy building tooling, resolving performance issues, and positively influencing team members.

Requirements

5+ years of professional Java development experience.
Deep knowledge of the Java language, JVM internals, and common frameworks (e.g., Spring/Spring Boot).
Strong, demonstrable experience with load/performance testing concepts (throughput, latency, concurrency, ramp-up strategies, think time, correlation, etc.).
Hands-on experience with Gatling or the ability to quickly become the team's go-to Gatling expert.
Experience with at least one other load testing tool (e.g., Locust, k6, JMeter, LoadRunner).
Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines and integrating automated performance tests into them.
Proven experience mentoring other engineers, comfortable explaining concepts clearly to people with widely varying experience levels, including non-Java engineers learning Java.
Strong communication skills; able to translate performance data into actionable recommendations for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Scala DSL familiarity.
Experience with distributed systems, microservices, and cloud infrastructure (AWS and/or Cloudflare).
Familiarity with APM/observability tooling (e.g., Datadog, New Relic, Grafana/Prometheus).
Experience building internal developer tools or frameworks used by multiple teams.
Background in relational/NoSQL databases and how they behave under load.
Prior experience formally leading a tooling migration or adoption effort.
Python development experience.
JavaScript/TypeScript development experience.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and productionize a Gatling-based load testing framework from the ground up, integrating it into the existing performance engineering toolbox.
Design and execute load tests, including realistic load, stress, soak, and scalability test scenarios that reflect real-world traffic patterns.
Analyze and report on performance test results, identify bottlenecks, and collaborate with engineering teams to resolve them.
Develop maintainable, well-documented Gatling simulations and supporting utilities/libraries.
Automate load test execution and reporting as part of the CI/CD pipeline.
Provide structured and informal mentorship to engineers on Java fundamentals, idiomatic patterns, framework usage, and best practices.
Establish and evangelize coding standards, testing strategy, and performance-engineering best practices.
Partner with development, QA, DevOps/SRE, and architecture teams to embed performance testing earlier in the development lifecycle.