Senior Backend Java Engineer

Job Description

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Senior Backend Java Engineer

Rate: £500 - £575 a day pay inside

Location: Remote, with expectations to attend onsite meetings when required (1-2 a month)

Duration: 6 months+

We are looking for a hands-on Senior Backend Java Engineer with recent experience building, testing, and deploying production-grade APIs and microservices. This is a coding-first backend role. We want someone actively engineering in their current or most recent role, not someone whose recent experience is mainly support, coordination, architecture-only, or line management.

Essential skills and experience

• Strong hands-on commercial coding experience with modern Java (Java v17 min, v21 LTS or newer preferred)
• Strong experience with Spring Boot
• Experience building REST APIs / microservices from scratch
• Strong testing skills using JUnit, Mockito, and ideally TDD
• Experience with PostgreSQL or another relational SQL database
• Experience with Docker
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (e.g. Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps)
• Comfortable working in agile, cross-functional teams
• Has current SC clearance, or is willing and eligible to undergo SC clearance

Desirable

• OpenAPI / Swagger
• Liquibase or Flyway
• Gradle
• Kafka
• Observability / monitoring experience
• Exposure to Kubernetes
• Some awareness of React / TypeScript

What we need from candidates

• Built backend services or APIs themselves
• Worked on microservice-based systems
• Written automated tests as part of delivery
• Used Docker and CI/CD in practice
• Stayed technically current with modern Java and Spring Boot

Non-negotiables

• Recent hands-on Java backend coding experience
• Built Spring Boot APIs/services from scratch
• Used Java 17/21+ in recent roles
• Written unit/integration tests
• Worked with SQL databases
• Used Docker and CI/CD
• Has SC clearance, or is willing and eligible to obtain it
• Ability to complete a practical coding assessment

Profiles unlikely to be a fit

• Production support / L3 support
• Bug fixing only
• Release or process coordination
• Line management with limited coding
• Architecture / governance without recent delivery
• Legacy Java maintenance without clear modern backend engineering experience

Recruiter screening questions

• What Java version has the candidate used most recently?
• Are they currently hands-on coding?
• Have they built a Spring Boot API/service from scratch in the last 5 years?
• What testing do they write personally?
• What database have they used most recently?
• Have they used Liquibase or Flyway?
• What CI/CD tooling have they used hands-on?
• Have they used Docker hands-on?
• Have they worked mainly on microservices or monoliths?
• Do they already hold SC clearance, or are they willing and eligible to obtain it?
• Are they comfortable with a practical coding exercise?

Short recruiter summary

We need a genuinely hands-on Senior Backend Java Engineer with recent Java 17/21+ and Spring Boot experience, who has built APIs/microservices from scratch, writes automated tests, has worked with PostgreSQL, Docker, and CI/CD, and either already holds SC clearance or is willing and eligible to obtain it.

Reasonable Adjustments:

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If you need any help or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, please let us know when you apply or talk to the recruiters directly so we can support you.