Staff Engineer

Landmark Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 480,000 - 720,000; Full time

Job summary

Landmark Digital, the digital arm of Landmark Group in Dubai, seeks a Staff Engineer–Java to lead architecture for scalable distributed systems and drive multi-team initiatives. You'll mentor engineers, shape technical strategy, and advance internal developer tools with AI-driven capabilities.

Responsibilities include end-to-end delivery across teams, designing cloud-native applications on Azure/AWS, and championing secure, observable systems with modern DevOps practices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of Java backend development experience.
• Expertise in Java, J2EE, Spring, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud.
• Experience shipping microservices-based, high-availability systems.
• Strong problem-solving, debugging, and system thinking.
• Excellent communication and leadership to guide teams.

Responsibilities

• Define technical strategy and architecture for distributed systems.
• Deliver end-to-end multi-team engineering initiatives.
• Architect and optimize microservices with Java and Spring.
• Lead design reviews, performance tuning, and RCA.
• Drive AI-assisted development practices and tooling adoption.

Skills

Java Backend

Spring Boot

Microservices Architecture

Distributed Systems

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

CI/CD Pipelines

Databases

Cloud Platforms

Kafka JMS

System Design

Leadership

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

CI/CD

Job description

Meet Landmark Digital – we’re part of the Landmark Group, one of the largest retail and hospitality organisations in the Middle East, North Africa, and India. We’re the guardians of the group’s digital arm which encompasses Enterprise & E-commerce Tech, Product Management, User Design, Omni Operations, Customer Experience, Loyalty, Content Production, Studio, Growth and MarTech, Finance and HR functions. With a futuristic outlook, we strive to make the digital experience of our customers seamless.

Job Description

We are looking for a Staff Engineer– Java who will serve as a technical leader, driving architectural direction, multi-team initiatives, and the development of highly scalable distributed systems. You will partner with Product, Architecture, DevOps and cross-functional engineering teams to deliver impactful technology solutions across a complex digital ecosystem.

You will independently define and deliver large-scale, multi-phase projects, mentor engineers, and shape technical strategy. The role also includes leveraging LLMs and GenAI-driven tools to enhance engineering productivity, reduce cycle time, and build the next generation of internal developer experience tools.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Drive technical strategy and architecture for complex distributed systems and core platform components.
• Own end-to-end delivery of high-impact, multi-team engineering initiatives.
• Translate ambiguous business requirements into clear, pragmatic technical solutions.
• Define technical roadmaps, sequence projects into phases, and ensure timely execution across teams.

Software Engineering & System Design

• Architect, develop, and optimize microservices using Java, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud.
• Design scalable, resilient, secure cloud-native applications using Azure/AWS.
• Lead system design reviews, architecture discussions, and technical deep dives.
• Solve complex cross-system issues through deep debugging, performance tuning, and root cause analysis.
• Build frameworks and shared libraries to accelerate development across squads.
• Champion adoption of AI-assisted development practices and LLM/GenAI tools across engineering teams to enhance workflows, improve cycle time, and automate routine tasks.
• Define clear guidelines, training, and standards for effective and secure use of AI tools, including prompt engineering, code generation, and review expectations.
• Integrate AI-driven capabilities such as code generation, unit test creation, log analysis, documentation summarization, and code review assistance into the development workflow.
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices for AI-generated code, including human-in-the-loop reviews, coding standards, test automation, secure coding, and design-first development.
• Measure and optimize engineering productivity using AI-related metrics (cycle time, PR throughput, AI-code adoption, defect escape rate, developer satisfaction) and continuously identify opportunities to reduce bottlenecks with AI.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Impact

• Work closely with Product Owners, Architects, QE, DevOps, and peer engineering teams.
• Communicate technical trade-offs, risks, and decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Coordinate across teams to resolve dependencies and align on architectural standards.
• Influence technical direction beyond your immediate team.
• Mentor engineers across multiple teams, guiding them in design, coding, debugging, and best practices.
• Participate actively in hiring and talent development.
• Raise the engineering bar through code reviews, design critiques, and technical leadership.
• Help define and uphold engineering best practices, coding standards, and architectural principles.

Ownership & Operational Excellence

• Take full ownership of systems from development to deployment, monitoring, and maintenance.
• Ensure engineering deliverables meet performance, reliability, and security criteria.
• Proactively identify areas for improvement and propose scalable, maintainable solutions.
• Lead incident response, post-mortems, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills and Qualifications

Must-Have

• 10+ years of professional experience in Java Backend Development.
• Deep expertise in Java, J2EE, Spring, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, and building microservices-based architectures.
• Proven experience shipping scalable, high-availability, high-performance systems in a microservices environment, including load handling, horizontal scaling, observability, and fault-tolerant design.
• Experience with Kafka, JMS, distributed system patterns, caching, asynchronous processing.
• Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes / OpenShift, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong knowledge of working with databases: Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, etc.
• Experience designing and scaling systems on Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, debugging capabilities, and system-level thinking.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and drive technical initiatives.

Personal Attributes

• Strong leadership qualities with the ability to influence without authority.
• High levels of self-motivation, ownership, and drive.
• Critical thinking abilities and a strong problem-solving mindset.
• Excellent team collaboration skills and a positive, proactive attitude.
• Adaptability, willingness to learn, and continuous improvement mindset.
• Ability to work under pressure and handle multiple competing priorities effectively.