Senior Lead Software Engineer - Squad Tech Lead to lead Java and Spring Boot microservices and high-scale API development - 1757
S I Systems
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Job summary
S I Systems is seeking a Senior Lead Software Engineer to steer Java/Spring Boot microservices and high-scale APIs within a hybrid Toronto-area team. You will blend technical leadership with hands-on development, shaping architecture and delivery while guiding a mixed-level engineering group.
Focus on secure SDLC, REST APIs, AI-assisted tooling, and collaboration with product owners and architects to deliver retirement services software. Occasional travel may occur.
Qualifications
- Expert Java + Spring Boot for complex microservices.
- Strong REST API design and secure SDLC awareness.
- Ability to learn internal frameworks quickly.
- 70% leadership / 30% hands-on with mentoring.
- Strong communication with architects, product owners and stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with Agile teammates to design, develop and deliver high-quality web applications.
- Lead AI-assisted development practices to accelerate velocity and quality.
- Coach, mentor and collaborate with design and development teams.
- Champion secure coding practices and remediate vulnerabilities using SAST/DAST tools.
- Partner with Product Owners and architects on technical feasibility and estimates.
Skills
Tools
Job description
Location: Hybrid. Primarily remote with on‑site presence once per quarter. Occasional travel between Toronto and Waterloo may be required depending on project needs, typically aligned to quarterly work assignments.
Daily Work Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Periodic weekend or after‑hours work may be required to support project implementations and system upgrades.
Frequency of Weekend/After‑Hours Work: Approximately monthly, depending on the deployment cycle. These are typically short, half‑hour deployments requiring only a few hours of support. Some deployments occur on Sundays, so frequency may vary month to month.
Join a newly formed team supporting digital retirement services initiatives within the insurance sector. This role combines technical leadership and hands‑on development across Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, secure SDLC practices, and AI-assisted development tools. The team is focused on enhancing client digital experiences related to retirement journeys, enrollments, savings, and retention. The program is expected to run long term with strong collaboration across Product Owners, architects, and engineering leadership.
- Strong experience with REST APIs
- Solid understanding of web applications & server technologies
- Ability to learn internal frameworks quickly
- 70% leadership / 30% hands‑on
- Proven experience leading and mentoring developers
- Strong communication skills for working with architects, PSCs, product owners, and business stakeholders
- Experience leading mixed‑level teams (junior + intermediate)
- Ability to address code‑level vulnerabilities
- Experience using SAST/DAST tools (Snyk, Checkmarx, SonarQube, Veracode)
- Understanding of secure SDLC and basic threat modeling
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines (BitBucket, Jenkins, CDD)
- Strong unit testing experience (JUnit, Mockito, RESTAssured)
- Beginner–intermediate experience with GitHub Copilot or similar LLMs
- Ability to use AI for assisted development, code generation, and productivity
- Understanding of React or Angular
- Awareness of Web Accessibility (A11y)
- Basic Kubernetes experience (pod tuning, configuration)
- Docker/containerization
- Kafka
- SOAP/XML
- Financial services or insurance experience
- Experience with retirement products, savings, or client‑experience journeys
- Experience with Claude, agent orchestration platforms, or conversational interfaces
- Collaborate with skilled Agile team members to understand user needs and design, develop and deliver high quality web applications that meet those needs
- Configure and design applications and workflows, using outside the box thinking, to create innovative ways to advance our client first strategy
- Lead AI-assisted development practices, leveraging GitHub Copilot and other AI coding tools to accelerate development velocity and improve code quality
- Design, develop, and integrate AI agents and conversational interfaces to enhance application capabilities and deliver intelligent automation solutions
- Champion secure coding practices and lead efforts to identify, prioritize, and remediate application security vulnerabilities using SAST/DAST tools
- Conduct security code reviews and ensure compliance with security standards and best practices throughout the development lifecycle
- Coach, mentor and collaborate with members of the design and development team
- Provide technical direction and guidance to projects, ensuring risks are mitigated and projects are implemented successfully
- Establish coding standards and technical best practices across the squad
- Conduct code reviews and mentor team members on technical excellence
- Support developers in removing technical blockers and guide technical implementation of user stories and features
- Communicate technical risks, dependencies, and constraints to stakeholders
- Participate in planning and refinement sessions with technical perspective and collaborate with Product Owner on technical feasibility and estimates
- Drive quality standards and testing practices; identify technical debt and propose solutions
- Monitor system performance and reliability and champion continuous improvement initiatives
- Contribute to defining timelines and plans; analyze and estimate feasibility, cost, time and scope
- Ensure coding, testing, debugging, and implementation activities are completed as required
- Participate in agile ceremonies and support on‑call and incident response when needed
- Represent the squad's technical interests in cross-squad discussions and collaborate with other Tech Leads across squads for consistency
Duration: 1 year to start
Location: Hybrid. Primarily remote with on‑site presence once per quarter. Occasional travel between Toronto and Waterloo may be required depending on project needs, typically aligned to quarterly work assignments.
Daily Work Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Periodic weekend or after‑hours work may be required to support project implementations and system upgrades.
Frequency of Weekend/After‑Hours Work: Approximately monthly, depending on the deployment cycle. These are typically short, half‑hour deployments requiring only a few hours of support. Some deployments occur on Sundays, so frequency may vary month to month.
Join a newly formed team supporting digital retirement services initiatives within the insurance sector. This role combines technical leadership and hands‑on development across Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, secure SDLC practices, and AI-assisted development tools. The team is focused on enhancing client digital experiences related to retirement journeys, enrollments, savings, and retention. The program is expected to run long term with strong collaboration across Product Owners, architects, and engineering leadership.
- Expert Java + Spring Boot (complex microservices, high‑scale APIs, performance tuning)
- Strong experience with REST APIs
- Solid understanding of web applications & server technologies
- Ability to learn internal frameworks quickly
- 70% leadership / 30% hands‑on
- Proven experience leading and mentoring developers
- Strong communication skills for working with architects, PSCs, product owners, and business stakeholders
- Experience leading mixed‑level teams (junior + intermediate)
- Ability to address code‑level vulnerabilities
- Experience using SAST/DAST tools (Snyk, Checkmarx, SonarQube, Veracode)
- Understanding of secure SDLC and basic threat modeling
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines (BitBucket, Jenkins, CDD)
- Strong unit testing experience (JUnit, Mockito, RESTAssured)
- Beginner–intermediate experience with GitHub Copilot or similar LLMs
- Ability to use AI for assisted development, code generation, and productivity
- Understanding of React or Angular
- Awareness of Web Accessibility (A11y)
- Basic Kubernetes experience (pod tuning, configuration)
- Docker/containerization
- Kafka
- SOAP/XML
- Financial services or insurance experience
- Experience with retirement products, savings, or client‑experience journeys
- Experience with Claude, agent orchestration platforms, or conversational interfaces
- Collaborate with skilled Agile team members to understand user needs and design, develop and deliver high quality web applications that meet those needs
- Configure and design applications and workflows, using outside the box thinking, to create innovative ways to advance our client first strategy
- Lead AI-assisted development practices, leveraging GitHub Copilot and other AI coding tools to accelerate development velocity and improve code quality
- Design, develop, and integrate AI agents and conversational interfaces to enhance application capabilities and deliver intelligent automation solutions
- Champion secure coding practices and lead efforts to identify, prioritize, and remediate application security vulnerabilities using SAST/DAST tools
- Conduct security code reviews and ensure compliance with security standards and best practices throughout the development lifecycle
- Coach, mentor and collaborate with members of the design and development team
- Provide technical direction and guidance to projects, ensuring risks are mitigated and projects are implemented successfully
- Establish coding standards and technical best practices across the squad
- Conduct code reviews and mentor team members on technical excellence
- Support developers in removing technical blockers and guide technical implementation of user stories and features
- Communicate technical risks, dependencies, and constraints to stakeholders
- Participate in planning and refinement sessions with technical perspective and collaborate with Product Owner on technical feasibility and estimates
- Drive quality standards and testing practices; identify technical debt and propose solutions
- Monitor system performance and reliability and champion continuous improvement initiatives
- Contribute to defining timelines and plans; analyze and estimate feasibility, cost, time and scope
- Ensure coding, testing, debugging, and implementation activities are completed as required
- Participate in agile ceremonies and support on‑call and incident response when needed
- Represent the squad's technical interests in cross-squad discussions and collaborate with other Tech Leads across squads for consistency
Disclaimer:
AI may be used in evaluating candidates.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
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