Lead Java Developer

McGregor Boyall; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

McGregor Boyall is seeking a hands-on Java Technical Lead to drive backend development and modernisation of critical platforms in a hybrid model. You will leverage Core Java, Spring Boot, and AWS to design scalable microservices, champion best practices, and guide engineers while contributing to hands-on delivery.

You will influence architectural decisions, optimize performance and mentor teams in a banking/financial services context, with a focus on cloud-native, resilient solutions and CI/CD

Qualifications

• Hands-on Java engineering with Spring Boot and AWS.
• Experience building scalable, microservices-based systems.
• Banking/FS domain experience is essential.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable backend applications using Java and Spring Boot.
• Build and optimise distributed systems and microservices on AWS.
• Apply concurrency and JVM tuning to improve performance and memory management.
• Contribute to system architecture, design reviews and key engineering decisions.
• Drive CI/CD, automated testing and production reliability.
• Mentor developers and promote engineering best practices.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to deliver effective technical solutions.
• Explore AI-assisted tooling to improve development efficiency.

Skills

Core Java

Spring Boot

Distributed systems

AWS

Mentoring

Concurrency

JVM tuning

Architecture

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Event-driven

Tools

Oracle

PostgreSQL

Job description

Hybrid Model - 2 days per week in the office

The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a hands-on Java Technical Lead to join a leading financial services organisation, contributing to the development and modernisation of complex, business-critical technology platforms.

You’ll combine strong Core Java engineering skills with expertise in distributed systems, concurrency and AWS, helping shape technical solutions, improve platform performance and deliver scalable, resilient applications.

Working alongside experienced engineers and architects, you’ll influence technical direction, champion engineering best practices and provide guidance to fellow developers while remaining actively involved in hands‑on development.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable backend applications using Java and Spring Boot.
• Build and optimise distributed systems, microservices and cloud‑native solutions on AWS.
• Apply advanced Core Java knowledge to concurrency, multithreading, JVM performance and memory management.
• Contribute to system architecture, technical design reviews and key engineering decisions.
• Drive code quality, automated testing, CI/CD and production reliability.
• Collaborate with engineers, architects and business stakeholders to deliver effective technical solutions.
• Mentor developers and promote engineering best practices.
• Explore AI-assisted development tools to improve engineering efficiency.

Key Skills & Experience

• Strong hands‑on Core Java expertise, including collections, concurrency, multithreading, garbage collection and JVM optimisation.
• Extensive experience with Spring and Spring Boot.
• Proven experience designing and building scalable, resilient distributed systems and microservices.
• Commercial experience developing and supporting applications on AWS.
• Previous software engineering experience within banking or financial services is essential.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, design patterns and performance optimisation.
• Experience with relational databases, ideally Oracle or PostgreSQL.
• Demonstrable technical leadership, including influencing design decisions, mentoring engineers and engaging with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Kafka or other event‑driven messaging technologies.
• Kubernetes, containerisation and cloud‑native deployments.
• CI/CD, infrastructure automation and DevOps practices.
• Exposure to LLMs, machine learning, agentic AI or AI-assisted software development.
• Experience working in Agile engineering teams.