Greenfield FinTech Buildout | Senior Java/Kotlin Engineer

Stanford Black Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford Black Limited in London is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join a high-performing backend team building cloud-native platforms for consumer-finance products. You’ll own significant components and influence architecture, delivering secure, resilient systems at scale.

You’ll mentor engineers, collaborate across squads, and drive best practices in JVM (Java/Kotlin), microservices, and cloud-native delivery with AWS/GCP/Azure, Docker/Kubernetes, and CI/CD.

Qualifications

• Strong experience building backend systems for scalable, cloud-native platforms.
• Experience with JVM languages (Java/Kotlin) and microservices.
• Familiarity with cloud providers (AWS/GCP/Azure), containers and orchestration.
• Experience with event-driven architectures (Kafka) and RESTful APIs.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable backend systems using modern engineering practices.
• Apply domain-driven design to create robust services.
• Ensure systems are resilient, secure, and high-performance.
• Own full lifecycle from design to deployment and optimization.
• Troubleshoot production issues and implement long-term fixes.
• Enable zero-downtime deployments for critical services.
• Mentor engineers and promote engineering culture.
• Improve observability, monitoring, and ops.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

Domain-driven design

Microservices

Distributed systems

Cloud-native

AWS

GCP

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Kafka

RESTful APIs

SQL/NoSQL

Observability

Mentoring

Tools

Java 25 and Kotlin tooling

Job description

The Senior Software Engineer will join a high-performing backend engineering team responsible for building and scaling modern, cloud-native platforms that power customer-centric financial products. You’ll play a key role in designing and delivering resilient, secure, and high-performance systems, working within collaborative squads focused on solving real-world problems at scale.

This role sits within an innovative, fast-growing environment that blends the agility of a startup with the backing and stability of a global financial institution. You’ll be instrumental in shaping architecture, influencing engineering standards, and mentoring engineers while delivering impactful solutions.

Company Highlights:

• Backed by a globally established financial institution with significant investment in digital innovation
• Startup-like environment with a strong engineering-first culture sitting on top of an established user base (circa 70M+ Users)
• Customer-centric mission focused on building modern financial products from the ground up
• Highly collaborative structure with cross-functional squads and real ownership
• Strong emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and continuous learning
• Cutting Edge Technology - Java 25 and Kotlin, cloud-native infrastructure as well as unlimited Claude 4.6 usage

Role Overview:

Opportunity to be a founding engineer as part of a Greenfield build out of a Fintech, backed by a major Investment Bank. You will have autonomy and ownership of the platform with the scope of influencing architectural decisions and seeing it through to production.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and build scalable, high-quality backend systems using modern engineering practices
• Apply domain-driven design principles to create robust and adaptable services
• Ensure systems are resilient, fault-tolerant, and free from single points of failure
• Develop secure, production-ready code with a focus on performance and reliability
• Own the full lifecycle: from design and development to deployment and optimisation
• Troubleshoot production issues and implement long-term fixes to prevent recurrence
• Enable seamless, zero-downtime deployments for critical services
• Optimize data access patterns and storage solutions for performance and scalability
• Continuously improve system observability, monitoring, and operational excellence
• Mentor engineers and contribute to a strong engineering culture
• Strong experience with JVM-based languages (Java and/or Kotlin)
• Experience building microservices and distributed systems at scale
• Cloud-native development (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices
• Experience with event-driven architecture and messaging systems (e.g. Kafka)
• Strong understanding of APIs, RESTful services, and system design
• Database experience (SQL and/or NoSQL)
• Familiarity with observability tools and monitoring frameworks

Ideal Candidate Profile:

• Strong problem-solving mindset with the ability to take ownership of complex challenges
• Passion for clean code, maintainability, and long-term system design
• Collaborative approach with a focus on knowledge sharing and team success
• Adaptable and comfortable working in fast-paced, evolving environments
• High standards for engineering quality and ethical decision-making
• Commercial awareness and interest in fintech or digital banking