Senior Java Engineer (Spring Boot)

About Distillery

Distillery is a software development partner that helps organizations design, build, and scale modern technology solutions. Leading companies work with us to accelerate digital initiatives, solve complex technical challenges, and bring innovative products to market faster. Working as an extension of our clients' teams, we deliver lasting business value. Distillery is committed to diversity and inclusion. We embrace a dynamic and inclusive culture where you have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow.

About the Position

We are seeking a Senior Java Engineer (Spring Boot) to join the team behind the platform that powers a leading automotive retailer's mobile service business, including its consumer-facing site and the internal application used by account managers and technicians to manage pricing, repair orders, and work authorizations. In this role, you will extend a mature platform and help build new capabilities, including a customer loan application flow, partnering closely with Product, Design, DevOps, and Operations. The ideal candidate is a pragmatic engineer with strong day-to-day technical design skills, who builds clean APIs and simple, maintainable data models and can clearly explain the reasoning behind every decision.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain REST APIs and microservices that power the customer-facing site and internal applications.
• Design simple, maintainable database schemas built for the features at hand, avoiding speculative optimization.
• Ramp up on existing platform capabilities (appointment scheduling, technician repair workflows, payment collection) and extend them.
• Build new process-oriented workflows, such as a customer loan application flow that integrates with bank and lender vendors and applies business rules to select the right offers.
• Model data so the team can audit and explain business outcomes, such as why a customer received a specific lender or APR.
• Use AI-assisted development tools with a design-first approach, defining the target design and using it to evaluate and steer AI-generated code.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to design and implement new capabilities and solve complex problems, from pricing competitiveness to vehicle loan approvals and repair order authorizations.
• Make practical tradeoffs under time pressure to deliver, including knowingly taking on tech debt when needed.
• Debug production issues across services and multiple levels of the stack.
• Uphold best practices in engineering, security, and design.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience developing Java web applications (Java 17+, Spring Boot, Hibernate) and integrating with third-party services.
• Strong technical design skills, with proven experience designing clean, straightforward, and scalable APIs.
• Solid database design experience with MySQL or PostgreSQL, favoring simple and maintainable schemas.
• Ability to explain and defend technical decisions in a clear and structured way.
• Experience with Agile development methodology and Test-Driven Development.
• Experience using telemetry and metrics to drive operational excellence.
• Attention to detail, especially around performance, accessibility, reliability, and security.
• Solid written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative environment involving different stakeholders and subject matter experts.

Nice to Have

• Experience with a cloud platform, preferably AWS (conceptual understanding is enough; infrastructure is managed by a dedicated DevOps team).
• Familiarity with Kubernetes and Docker.
• Experience with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).
• Experience working with React-based front ends.
• Experience in the automotive or financing sector.