Senior Java Developer

Applaudo Studios

About The Position

This role is for a Senior Java Backend Engineer with strong experience in building scalable, high-performance backend systems within distributed and cloud-native environments. The ideal candidate is passionate about designing reliable architectures, improving platform resilience, and delivering secure, maintainable solutions for high-volume transactional systems. The position requires a proactive, solution-oriented mindset, comfort with modern backend architectures, containerized environments, observability practices, and cloud infrastructure, along with the ability to collaborate effectively with engineering and product teams. Ownership, technical leadership, and continuous improvement are highly valued. The candidate should be adaptable, detail-oriented, capable of mentoring engineers, and driving technical decisions and architecture evolution. This position is offered under a 2-month contractor model.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
6+ years of professional experience in Java backend development.
2+ years of hands-on experience with Spring Boot and Spring WebFlux.
Strong experience designing and maintaining Microservices architectures and distributed systems.
Solid understanding and practical application of Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters).
Proven experience building and optimizing backend applications in high-throughput, low-latency environments.
Experience with relational and non-relational databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or DynamoDB.
Familiarity with distributed caching technologies such as Redis or Memcached.
Hands-on experience with Azure cloud services, including AKS, App Service, Application Gateway, and Storage Account.
Strong experience with Docker and Kubernetes for containerization and orchestration.
Exposure to CI/CD practices and tools such as Git, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or Terraform.
Solid understanding of secure coding practices, authentication flows, and encryption fundamentals.
Experience implementing monitoring and observability solutions such as Datadog, Prometheus, or Grafana.
Experience working with SaaS platforms or high-volume transactional systems such as eCommerce or fintech platforms.
2+ years of experience mentoring engineers, leading initiatives, or owning critical services.
Strong communication skills and advanced English proficiency for direct collaboration with US-based teams and stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Kafka, GraphQL, gRPC, or Elasticsearch.

Responsibilities

Design and develop scalable, fault-tolerant backend services following Microservices and Hexagonal Architecture principles.
Deploy and manage containerized applications on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) using Docker and Azure-native infrastructure.
Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
Create architecture documentation, estimations, and user stories that support Agile delivery processes.
Ensure platform performance, security, reliability, and SLA compliance through engineering best practices.
Mentor and guide engineers while promoting ownership, quality, and technical excellence.
Lead and participate in code reviews to ensure scalability, maintainability, and adherence to engineering standards.
Contribute to observability, incident response, and continuous platform improvement initiatives.
Influence technical roadmaps and contribute to architecture, tooling, and platform decisions.
Support operational excellence initiatives across backend systems and cloud environments.