Java Technical Lead

Version 1; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm is seeking an experienced Java Technical Lead to join its Digital Data & Cloud Practice. You will provide technical leadership to a Java-based development team focusing on high-volume message processing within the financial services sector. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with technologies like Kafka and Kubernetes, as well as a strong understanding of cloud-native applications. The role offers a hybrid working schedule, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for professional growth.

Benefits

Private medical and life insurance

Tech scheme for latest technology

Profit share scheme

Pathways Career Development Quarterly

Qualifications

• Deep practical experience in scaling systems processing millions of messages daily.
• Ability to guide a development team technically and lead complex backend components.
• Strong problem-solving capabilities in a financial services environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead team ensuring high-quality delivery of backend components.
• Guide developers on best practices for Java system design and processing.
• Troubleshoot complex issues related to message processing and large volumes.

Skills

Java

Kafka

Kubernetes

Microservices architecture

Spring framework

Agile/Scrum

SQL

CI/CD practices

Git

Distributed processing

Tools

Docker

Redis

Gradle

Maven

GitHub Copilot

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Java Technical Lead to join our UK Digital Data & Cloud Practice. Our Digital Practice is expanding rapidly and there will be an opportunity for you to achieve medium and long‑term career goals. You will be working for one of our high‑profile trading clients within the financial services domain. You will provide both hands‑on technical leadership and day‑to‑day guidance to a Java‑based development team supporting a high‑volume message processing environment.

The current team is heavily Java‑focused but the client’s ecosystem relies extensively on Kafka, Kubernetes/OpenShift, caching solutions, REST APIs and high‑throughput distributed systems. The Lead must bring the breadth and depth required to help the team operate independently without continuous escalation to the CITI manager.

The role requires someone who has deep practical experience in scaling systems that process millions of messages per day, strong problem‑solving capability and the ability to drive the team technically.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the team across complex backend components ensuring high‑quality delivery.
• Guide developers on best practices across Java system design, messaging, caching and distributed processing.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues related to sequencing, recovery, message failures and large‑volume processing.
• Provide hands‑on oversight for releases, deployments and production stability.
• Drive sound engineering practices such as CI/CD, code quality and operational readiness.
• Ensure the team adheres to performance, security and resilience standards particularly around large‑scale message handling.

Team & Stakeholder Management

• Act as the technical bridge between the Version 1 technical team and the client.
• Provide full ownership of tasks assigned to the whole team.
• Maintain clear awareness of team activities, workload distribution and developer challenges.
• Communicate status, risks and expectations effectively to both Version 1 and client stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Experience working on trading or financial platforms that process millions of messages per day with strong awareness of related non‑functional requirements such as latency, resiliency, throughput optimisation, failover handling and backpressure management.
• Experienced in designing and developing cloud‑native applications with a microservices architecture running on Docker/OpenShift/Kubernetes.
• Experienced in application development using Java, SQL (SQL Server, Oracle, etc.) and messaging platforms such as Kafka, MQ, etc.
• Experienced in Spring framework, Spring Boot technologies.
• Experienced in Java REST API development and application security best practices (OAuth, JWT, etc.).
• Experienced in Gradle, Maven, Git/Bitbucket.
• Experienced in caching services like Redis, etc.
• Experience with GitHub Copilot and other coding assistants.
• Experience working in an Agile/Scrum work environment.

Additional Information

At Version 1 we believe in providing our employees with a comprehensive benefits package that prioritises their well‑being, professional growth and financial stability.

One of our standout advantages is the ability to work with a hybrid schedule along with business travel allowing our employees to strike a balance between work and life. We also offer a range of tech‑related benefits, including an innovative Tech Scheme to help keep our team members up‑to‑date with the latest technology.

We prioritise the health and safety of our employees, providing private medical and life insurance coverage as well as free eye tests and contributions towards glasses. Our team members can also stay ahead of the curve with incentivised certifications and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat.

Our employee‑designed Profit Share scheme divides a portion of our company’s profits each quarter amongst employees. We are dedicated to helping our employees reach their full potential, offering Pathways Career Development Quarterly – a programme designed to support professional growth.

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Remote Work : No

Employment Type : Full‑time