Java Technical Lead / Architect

Role: Java Technical Lead/ Archite
Location: Memphis, TN (Onsite)

Overview

We are seeking a hands-on and highly skilled Java Technical Lead / Architect to drive the design, development, and implementation of enterprise-level software solutions. As a key driver of architectural excellence, you will shape the future of our technology landscape by leveraging your deep understanding of Java and modern software architecture principles.
Key Responsibilities

• Design & implement REST APIs that maintain backward compatibility while evolving the entitlements domain model
• Orchestrate complex business workflows across multiple external systems (APIGEE, Interpose SOAP passthrough, Azure services)
• Own integration boundaries with downstream systems, including error handling, retry logic, idempotency, and response translation
• Build and maintain data persistence layers using Spring Data JPA / Hibernate against Azure SQL, with careful attention to transaction semantics and audit trails
• Implement caching strategies using Redis/Redisson for performance-critical paths
• Write production-grade tests that verify behavior, not just coverage—unit, service, and resource-layer tests
• Design and maintain Helm charts for Kubernetes deployments across multiple environments
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation using modern DevOps practices
• Manage containerization with Docker, optimize images, and ensure security best practices
• Investigate and resolve production incidents using Dynatrace, DQL queries, and log analysis
• Document design decisions in architecture records and implementation plans; maintain alignment between code and documentation
• Mentor junior engineers on domain knowledge, testing practices, and architectural patterns specific to this system

Required Technical Skills

Core Java & Spring

• Java 21 with modern language features (records, sealed classes, pattern matching)
• Spring Boot 3.5.4 and Spring ecosystem (Data JPA, Security, WebClient, AOP, Retry)
• Maven for build and dependency management
• Strong understanding of transaction boundaries, lazy loading, and persistence context in JPA/Hibernate

API & Integration Design

• RESTful API design with versioning, status codes, and partial-success semantics
• SOAP/XML parsing and generation (Interpose passthrough experience a plus)
• WebClient for async HTTP integrations with resilience patterns
• Experience with circuit breakers, retries, and timeouts (Resilience4j or equivalent)
• Understanding of idempotency and request deduplication in distributed systems

Data & Persistence

• Azure SQL and relational schema design
• Spring Data JPA / Hibernate with complex mappings, composite keys, and cascading behavior
• Ability to reason about query performance, N+1 problems, and connection pooling
• Experience with database migrations and schema evolution

Caching & Performance

• Redis and Redisson for distributed caching
• Cache invalidation strategies and TTL management
• Performance profiling and optimization

Testing & Quality

• Writing unit, service, and integration tests that verify behavior
• Test-driven development (TDD) practices
• Checkstyle and code quality enforcement
• Familiarity with JUnit 5, Mockito, and MockWebServer

DevOps & Infrastructure

• Kubernetes / AKS cluster management and deployment strategies
• Helm charts design, templating, and values management across environments
• Docker containerization, image optimization, and security scanning
• CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or equivalent)
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) principles and tools
• Azure services: Key Vault, SQL Database, Container Registry, managed identity
• mTLS and certificate-based authentication in Kubernetes
• Deployment automation, blue-green deployments, and rollback strategies
• Pod security policies, network policies, and RBAC in Kubernetes

Observability & Operations

• Dynatrace for APM, log analysis, and trace investigation
• DQL (Dynatrace Query Language) for custom metrics and dashboards
• Understanding of SLOs, error rates, and latency analysis
• Ability to read and interpret production logs without exposing PII
• Health checks, readiness probes, and liveness probes in Kubernetes
• Metrics collection and monitoring strategy

Cloud & Infrastructure

• Azure services: Key Vault, SQL Database, Container Registry, managed identity
• Kubernetes / AKS deployment concepts, scaling, and resource management
• Docker containerization and image management
• Container registries and image scanning
• Network configuration and service mesh concepts (optional but valued)

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend software engineering in Java/Spring
• 3+ years of DevOps, SRE, or infrastructure engineering experience
• Experience with banking or financial services domain (profiles, accounts, entitlements, audit)
• Familiarity with APIGEE API gateway or similar
• Hands-on experience with Helm charts in production environments
• Experience with Kubernetes in production (AKS, EKS, or GKE)
• Knowledge of GitOps practices and tools (ArgoCD, Flux)
• Experience with Databricks for audit reporting or analytics
• Knowledge of PowerShell for operational scripting
• Contributions to open-source projects or published technical writing
• Experience with incident response and RCA (root cause analysis) documentation
• Familiarity with container security and image scanning tools

What You'll Work With

• Language: Java 21
• Framework: Spring Boot 3.5.4
• Build: Maven
• Persistence: Spring Data JPA, Hibernate, Azure SQL
• Caching: Redis, Redisson
• HTTP Client: Spring WebClient
• Integrations: APIGEE, Interpose SOAP, Azure Key Vault
• Observability: Dynatrace, DQL, structured logging
• Testing: JUnit 5, Mockito, MockWebServer
• Code Quality: Checkstyle, Spotless, SonarQube
• Container: Docker, Kubernetes/AKS
• Infrastructure: Helm, Azure Container Registry
• CI/CD: GitLab CI / GitHub Actions
• Audit: Databricks, event-driven outbound workflows

Code Quality & Standards:

You'll be expected to:

• Follow surgical, minimal-change principles when modifying code
• Preserve existing API contracts and status codes unless explicitly changing behavior
• Write focused tests that cover changed behavior, not just line coverage
• Maintain security standards: never log secrets, PII, or raw SOAP bodies
• Document design decisions in architecture records for major changes
• Participate in code review with attention to integration boundaries and transaction semantics
• Ensure Helm charts are maintainable, well-documented, and follow Kubernetes best practices
• Implement deployment automation with proper validation and rollback strategies

Pay: $140,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Relocation assistance

Work Location: In person