Back End Developer

Stanford Black Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford Black Limited in London is seeking a Backend Developer to join as a Founding Engineer, delivering a greenfield platform with Java and Kotlin. You will own core architecture, lead design decisions, and drive the project from the ground up.

You will design scalable backend systems, ensure high availability, and work on distributed architectures with significant ownership and impact in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Strong backend engineering experience with Java and/or Kotlin, building production-grade systems.
• Proven experience working at significant scale, building platforms used by a large number of end users.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, scalability, reliability, and system design.
• Pragmatic, high-ownership mindset with the ability to make decisions and solve complex problems.
• Team-first engineer who shares knowledge and raises the technical bar across the team.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build at scale — design highly scalable, distributed systems for a growing user base.
• Own the engineering from the ground up — make high-impact decisions on architecture, technology and direction.
• Build for resilience — ensure fault-tolerance, security, high availability and performance under pressure.
• Solve genuinely hard engineering problems — identify bottlenecks, tackle production issues, and improve the platform.
• Raise the engineering bar — champion modern technologies, design patterns and best practices across the lifecycle.
• Ideal opportunity for an engineer who wants genuine 0→1 ownership.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

Job description

Location: London, UK - 5 days a week onsite

I'm partnered with a leading global financial institution that is looking to hire a Backend Developer with Java / Kotlin expertise as a de facto Founding Engineer to help launch a greenfield initiative.

This is an opportunity to join at an early stage and play a key role in designing, building, and scaling a new platform from the ground up, with significant ownership across architecture, engineering, and technical direction.

The successful candidate will have a strong track record of working at significant scale, building distributed systems that support a large number of end users and operate reliably in complex, high-availability environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and build at scale — design highly scalable, distributed systems capable of supporting a large and growing user base.
• Own the engineering from the ground up — make high-impact decisions around architecture, technology, and technical direction.
• Build for resilience — engineer systems that are fault-tolerant, secure, highly available, and built to perform under pressure.
• Solve genuinely hard engineering problems — identify performance bottlenecks, tackle complex production issues, and continuously improve the platform.
• Raise the engineering bar — champion modern technologies, pragmatic design patterns, and best practices across the development lifecycle.
• Ideal opportunity for an engineer who wants genuine 0→1 ownership.

What We're Looking For

• Strong backend engineering experience with Java and/or Kotlin, building production-grade systems.
• Proven experience working at significant scale, building platforms used by a large number of end users.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, scalability, reliability, and system design.
• A pragmatic, high-ownership mindset — comfortable making decisions, navigating ambiguity, and solving complex problems.
• A team-first engineer who shares knowledge, maintains high standards, and helps raise the technical bar around them.